


"A vixen wisp"   Or:   "Aleens way of doing everything wrong"

by LynnDenbaum



Category: Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, smut in later chapters, sometimes kind of bloody
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2019-10-30 22:12:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17837090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LynnDenbaum/pseuds/LynnDenbaum
Summary: "Sure, I would have taken him with me, if I had the chance, but this is definitely not, what I had in mind!"When Aleen is suddenly transferred into an unknown world, she has to encounter the greatest challenge, she has ever met.Starting from square one, she needs to adapt to fit into this world and build up a life for her and her guardians.But this world is far more difficult than YGGDRASIL had ever been.Edit: I should Set something straight: This world is *NOT* the same one as in the original overlord Story!My fic does Not follow the storyline in the slightest!Edit 2: I don't actually describe a rape happening, but I do describe a victim of rape and violence. So be warned. I tried not to make it too ugly, but these things always are. Please do not read chapter 2 If you feel uneasy about it. :)Love you all!





	1. Stranded

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Real Life on the Seventh Floor](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17506664) by [Kensalyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kensalyn/pseuds/Kensalyn). 



> Hi!  
> So I tried to write something that does not follow the storyline of "Overlord" at all.  
> If you don't like this kind of fanfiction, now is your chance to leave :D
> 
> If you keep reading: please enjoy!
> 
> Special Thanks to Kensalyn for beta reading!
> 
> Also this story was inspired by Kensalyn's "Real life on the seventh floor"  
> (https://archiveofourown.org/works/17506664/chapters/41237897 )
> 
> as well as by Download077's "Child of Jörmungandr"  
> (https://archiveofourown.org/works/16873440/chapters/39625050 )

# A Vixen Wisp

### Chapter One: Stranded

 

My feet were leading me to my destination almost by themselves.  
I knew the dark floors and empty hallways, the shadowy corners and huge gloomy vaults in all their cruelty and majesty, like I knew the insides of my pockets. Like I knew my skills and the items on me, or rather on my avatar’s body.

  
My light blue tail was swooshing behind me, giving me the look of some kind of Will o‘ wisp, which was actually why I was called “Aleen the vixen wisp”.  I followed the sombre corridor down to the seventh floor.  
I had to see it one last time, before it all ended.  
“Before it all turns to dust,” I sang to myself, stopping my feet in front of a gigantic iron gate.  
My sensitive ears felt the vibration of roaring flames from the other side and my heart seemed to swell with the growing joy I felt about entering the blazing temple again.  
Even though it would be the last time.  
Fire and destruction had something oddly calming. Or at least, that was my opinion.  
And since I spent many hours just wandering around in this floor, listening to the music of the inferno, it seemed only fitting to die here too.

  
Of course I wouldn`t die. My body was still sitting in my empty apartment, at a way too late hour, considering I had to work tomorrow in the morning. But Aleen the Wisp would. And I had really started to identify myself with my character over the years, so in a way at least a part of me would perish alongside this world. Maybe the best part.

  
Pulling myself out of my depressing thoughts, I pushed the heavy, ornamented doors open and braced myself for the wall of heat that hit not only my face, but my whole body.  
I couldn´t actually feel it though. That was the depressing thing about mind gear.  
Your mind was in here, but your body wasn´t.

  
I entered without hesitation and directed my walk to the temple building itself, which was barely visible through whirring clouds of smoke and heat. The heat itself could melt an adventurer’s sword from his very hands, and afterwards himself if he wasn’t equipped with the right items or resistance.  
And if that wouldn’t do the trick, the floor guardians abilities certainly would.  
Aspect of the devil: Hellfire Spear could pierce through any armour if you let yourself get hit by that.  
I knew that, because I had fought him once.  
Before joining the guild.  
He was only a low level demon back then but he still made it difficult to pass him. But I eventually did.  
I really respected him for his fighting skills and high intellect, even though he was just an NPC.

  
Demiurge.

  
That well dressed, gentlemanly mannered, cruel, greedy bastard of an arch devil, with his jet black hair and those spectacles he seemed to be quite fond of.  
I always loved how much thought Ulbert had put into creating him. Even his name, Demiurge, didn’t come from nothing.  
It referred strongly to the mythological “Demiurge” who was a creator of worlds of some kind, and also an arrogant artisan.  
That was actually quite fitting, for the devil that he created was indeed an artisan in his own way. He reached for perfection in everything he did, killing, creating and fighting with a flexibility which definitely deserved to be called “art”.  
So he was an artist of torture and murder.  
Well, someone had to be.

  
Ulbert was very proud of his NPC, calling him a masterpiece and showing him off to everyone in the guild while levelling him up like some child who wants to be praised. I couldn’t deny him this praise though. He really was a masterpiece. One that I had never dared to touch, after I joined the guild. Because I was afraid what my fellow guild member would say if I did.

  
Not that I would have done anything weird. But I casually touched other NPCs in Nazarick all the time. Like I loved to pat Aura’s and Shalltear’s heads, whenever I stopped by on their floors, but never Demiurge. Even though he was the one I would want to touch the most.  
I reached the plateau on which the temple building was located and stopped for a moment to look at the time.

  
23:55

  
Maybe I should have come here earlier, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.  
It really hurt to leave this place behind. I helped building it up over years after all.  
I loved Nazarick with all I was and had denied its ending till the very end.  
And about Demiurge.. Maybe I should write something about him when this was over.  
Maybe a story just for him, so he wouldn’t be forgotten.  
Somehow it felt really horrible to think about him being forgotten.  
And he would get an adventure of his own.  
Wouldn’t that be kind of nice?

  
I directed my path to the entrance of the blazing temple, where I could already see him standing. Next to the gates like some sort of sardonic butler.  
His bright grin spread across his face when greeting intruders with a very “warm” welcome.  
I stopped right in front of him, breathing in his very sight, trying to remember every detail of him, every little spark of light, that the dancing flames around him threw on his hair and face.  
I may have grown a little too fond of him.  
It was probably not the worst thing, that Yggdrasil ended. Maybe I could find a *real* man in the *real* world now?  
Bring my mother some grandchildren or something..

But for now..

  
I reached out for the devilish floor guardian, caressing his face with both my hands, then slowly pulling him into a hug, burying my face into the soft fabric of his blazer.

 

Screw it. Ulbert can kiss my ass if he had any problems with me touching his creation. He shouldn't have just left him here. Of course I knew that this was nonsense. My guild companion had every right to choose his family above a simple game. But still.

“When the world has to end, so be it. But I don't want to have any regrets, Demiurge. If not now, then never.”

I was either crazy or just reaaaally worked up about this demonic devil in front of me and the ending of Yggdrasil which was kind of my life.

“I am sorry. I would take you with me if I could. Even though you would probably kill someone behind my back.”

I laughed hoarsely, swallowing on my tears.

Because I absolutely knew he would.

This sadistic devil took the most joy out of torturing and killing after all.

But still.. I liked him. Somehow it didn't bother me that much if it was him.

I burrowed my face deep into his chest and tried to hold back my tears.

 

23:59

 

I closed my eyes. Demiurge would be the last thing I have seen here.

I held my breath, waiting till it would be over. Till something would change.  


And then something did change.

 

I felt his strong arms around me, his nose in my hair, his warm breath wandering over my skull. And I felt his chest move with a sudden deep breath which he shouldn't be taking.

 

What did just happen?

 

 

 

 

Demiurge looked down on his lady burying her face in his chest.

That was unexpected. And new. She never touched him before. She just casually dropped by him, talking about her day and the things she had to endure when she wasn't here in Yggdrasil. Even though he didn't understand a single word she was telling him, because that world she was talking about, just seemed like something really abstruse to him, he still understood her feelings about it.

 

That was the way she treated him till now. With respect, with kindness but also with distance.

 But she just told him, the world was going to end, didn’t she?. So maybe that explained her sudden outburst of… Emotion? Affection? No. He wouldn’t go so far as to interpret something into her actions that probably wasn’t even there.

 

He shouldn't. He really shouldn't. But he wanted to.

 

And as she pulled him closer he started wondering if it would be ok to hug her back?

Maybe that was what she wanted?

Would it be disrespectful against his supreme lady?

Or maybe the other way round? She could be offended If he didn't return her embrace. So many things he had to mind.. it was difficult to make the right decision. But still… as his lady had said:

“If not now then never.” And he didn't want any regrets either. So If the world had to end, so be it. He could at least have this little moment with her to himself.

 

With a soft sigh he finally settled on not wanting to have regrets and pulled her even deeper into his chest. Laying his arms around her and shoving his nose softly into her silky hair he took a deep breath, inhaling her scent for the first and as he though last time.

 

Then he closed his eyes, ready to die.

 

 

 

Seconds passed, stretched into minutes and still nothing happened.

Demiurge suppressed the urge to open his eyes. Not daring to destroy this moment which was only his.

 

He feared If he would open his eyes everything would ultimately fade into blackness, crumbled away as mountains did over many years but in split seconds.

He feared his world and his Lady would turn to dust right before his eyes, and the last one he especially didn't want, to see harmed in any way that he couldn't protect her from.

 

But time passed. Lady Aleen was still breathing into his clothes, clenching her fists around the fabric in his back.

And nothing seemed to happen.

 

Slowly he opened his eyes.

First thing he noticed was, that the light had changed. This wasn't the hellish blaze of devouring flames he was standing in mere minutes ago.

This place seemed awfully peaceful. The golden light from above remembered him of a beautiful sunny day on a wide meadow.

 

And suddenly he realized: that was exactly what this was!

They were standing on a wide meadow. Fresh green grass, glittering with silvery dew beneath their feet. The distant chirping of birds in tall oak trees. Sweet blowing of a soft breeze in his face and hair.

 

Lady Aleen had started to shake in his arms and he rose his head carefully out of her light blue, beautiful hair.

“My Lady?”

 

His voice sounded hoarse as if he had never used it before and he cleared his throat in an attempt to improve the tone.  
“Lady Aleen?”

 

 

  
  
I heart him speak and felt the vibration of his voice deep in his chest into which I still leaned.  
His heart pounded fast, and I found myself wondering if that was because he was a devil or because of the things I told him about the ending of the world.

  
Did I just accept that he was alive? I couldn’t answer that to myself.  
But I knew that I was in some state of shock. Or maybe it was the adrenaline.

  
His arms around my body felt warm and protective and his silvery tail had wrapped itself around mine, holding me as close as possible.

  
If he was alive and I had not gone crazy, then something had gone like reaaally wrong.

  
“My Lady where are we?”  
He didn’t sound concerned, but rather interested. As if he were looking at some new kind of animal or a very rare plant. His voice sounded nice. Not what I would have expected it to sound, but it was even more fitting.

  
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. I was occupied with trying not to freak out, and control my breathing so I wouldn’t forget to and pass out or something.  
I hadn’t even opened my eyes yet, so I wasn’t even able to answer his question, but I was pretty sure that it was not Nazarick, and neither my small apartment back in Exeter.  
So where were we?  
I lowered the tip of my sensitive ears to listen to the slightest noise, when I suddenly realized two things.

  
Demiurges tail was wrapped around _mine ._ I had a tail. And I could _feel_ it!  
And also.. I still had my vixen ears but somehow they felt very much …. Real.

  
So did the rest of my body. And I could smell..  
I smelled the soft fragrance of aromatic wood and bonfire smoke. And I knew it was him. It was Demiurge.

 

It was overwhelming. Maybe because of my sharpened senses, or maybe because I was still struggling with what I was experiencing.

  
“My Lady?”  
He repeated with that silky voice of his and it kind of ripped me out of panicking and threw me back into reality, or what I thought was reality.

Maybe I really was just downright crazy.

  
I gently pushed him away, turning my back on him and looking around, hoping I would recognize this place we were in. But I didn’t.  
The wide open meadow, the oak trees and singing birds.. I had never seen any of these before. This was definitely not south England. Nor Yggdrasil.  
“I…” I hesitated, not knowing what to tell him. What was the right thing to say?  
Probably the truth, I shouldn’t lie to him.  
“I don’t know.”  
I turned back to look at him and nearly got a heart attack when I looked him in the eyes.  
I had often looked at him, but... He had never looked back at me. Because he was just some NPC. Just some data on a server somewhere in Japan.  
Or wasn’t he?

  
Not anymore. That much I was certain of. (Or I had gone crazy, which still was a possibility I shouldn’t ignore.)  
His gaze seemed to wander down my spine and into my very soul. His diamond eyes blurred with soft confusion.  
He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, then he closed it again. No sound escaped his throat.

  
I slowly shook my head, trying to clear it.  
“Something must have gone wrong.” _Terribly_ wrong! Where the hell was I? And why with Demiurge? Why wasn’t I back in my apartment in front of my desk?  
My boss would kill me if I overslept again! Which was likely to happen if I didn’t go to bed soon!

  
But, somehow, I knew that didn’t matter anymore. I would not be returning to my work.  
Just to experiment, I tried to open my inventory. Of course, it didn’t work.  
Neither did a thought escape button, and there wasn’t an “options” button either.  
Probably because this wasn’t a game anymore.

  
“Wrong…”

He repeated slowly, his brain working way faster than mine.  
“So we haven’t been killed. The world didn’t end. Or it probably did but we have been _transferred_ someplace safe. Is that about right, my Lady?” He quietly said.

  
Yes that was probably it. But where was “someplace safe?”  
I simply nodded, still staring at his eyes, frowning. What he seemed to misinterpret as some sort of scolding, for he knelt down immediately in front of me, staring at the floor.  
“Forgive me my Lady, for I have no right to speak so casually to you. I will accept whatever punishment you might bestow on me.”  
“What, no I….”  
I shook my head, confused and tired and somehow very exhausted.  
“Please just stand up.”  
He stood, looking at me with worried eyes.  
“Are you alright? You sound very tired my Lady.”

  
A soft sigh escaped my lips.

  
“This seems very unreal to me right now. I don’t know where we are, I don’t know what we should do, I don’t know which kind of rules this world might have and I don’t even know if I can trust you or your loyalty. Demiurge, I am tired. I am so very tired, that I could lay down here in the grass and sleep in broad daylight. And I am afraid. Deeply terrified even, because I don’t know what happened.”

  
The demon in front of me looked kind of hurt. I didn’t think he even had these kinds of feelings, but apparently, he did.  
“My Lady I understand if you don’t want to trust me... But I would never do something that would not benefit you and your wellbeing, for it is my highest concern.”

  
He knelt down again, pulling his right hand to his chest.  
“I pledge my loyalty to you. Wherever you should go I will stay by your side, whatever you will do I will do the very best in my abilities to help you achieve all of your goals.”

  
I stared at him, with an expression which was probably pretty dumb, but I hadn’t expected such an outburst of emotions. Not from him. Actually, not from anyone, when it came to me of all people.  
His iron tail whipped the floor behind him in a nervous manner, while he awaited my response.  
The tiredness threatened to overwhelm me and I whispered more than I said:  
“Well, my first goal is to find some place to sleep. And please don’t kneel in front of me. That makes me kind of uncomfortable.”  
“Very well, my Lady” he answered, standing up again, smiling at me with an expression that probably should state reassurance, but it didn’t reassure me at all.  “Then, I shall search for some shelter. Would you please allow me to leave you here for the time being, until I return to get you? I will need to make sure the surrounding area is safe. I would not want to bring you any danger,” he asked, still looking very concerned.  
I simply nodded and let him guide me to one of the major oak trees that stood all over the place.

He would return, wouldn’t he? He would not just leave me, would he?  
The demon helped me sit down, then he spread his leathery wings and flew up into the very clear blue sky.  
And then he was gone. Maybe he was never even here to begin with? Maybe I really was crazy after all.  
My brain couldn’t process everything. But now that I was alone, the panic started to grow inside of me again. Trying to overtake me, to pull me under this gigantic wave of blackness and cold.

  
I tried to breathe calmly, to control my breathing, like I was told to many years ago, when that… thing… happened, but it seemed to become more and more difficult to get actual air into my lungs. I saw stars dancing before my eyes while my breath got quicker. I felt my pulse rising up to very unhealthy heights and knew that at this rate, it would not be long till I passed out.  
I tried taking a deep breath but I couldn’t. The air just didn’t seem to reach my lungs. Instead it seemed to press on my chest with the bare strength of a rhinoceros.

  
Why was this happening? What the hell was even going on? Where was I?  
Why was I all alone? Why did everyone leave me…? Again…  
  
Hot tears began dropping down on my face, my arms and also on my knees as I pulled them towards my chest, embracing them with all my might, while pulling my silky light blue tail over them to bury my face in.  
  
I took another deep breath, now weeping with despair, kind of hyperventilating, when I smelled a soothing fragrance I had smelled before. This smoky aroma that instantly kept my panic in check. My shirt had taken in Demiurges scent. I had not just imagined him. He really was here. I was not all alone. At least some relief washed over me, calmed me and helped me breathe again. Deep, shaky breaths. I felt the air streaming into my lungs and lost some of the tension, my body had been building up.

  
 I still wept though. It couldn’t be helped. I did get stranded into some kind of new world with a devil, I knew was capable of killing with joy, every day.

 

  
  
When the sun started to set, Demiurge finally returned. I had tried to sleep a bit, but I had sunken into my thoughts after I finally stopped crying, and I couldn’t sleep, no matter how hard I tried.  
I had finally calmed myself down, too. Pushed away the thought of him abandoning me, ready to explore this new place.  
Still, I was more than relieved when he really did come back.  
  
“Anything interesting?” I asked him, right when his feet touched the ground in front of me, trying not to show how glad I really was to see him.  
“My Lady,” he said with relief in his voice. “You seem better.”  
I pulled up one eyebrow when he didn’t answer my question right away, smirking about the pure joy in his face.

  
“Of course. Please forgive me. I have found an empty cabin in the forest to the south. It seemed like the residents had left some time ago. Also, smaller hordes of goblins and wolves inhabit these woods. Those are no danger for you. Would that be sufficient for your needs my Lady? If not then I shall continue my search for something more fitting for the supreme being you are”

  
“No thank you. That is totally fine. Just take me there please.”  
_I am not a supreme being at all. I can’t even control my breath. I actually needed your help to do so!_  I added in my thoughts, but refrained from telling him.  
The thought of a house in the woods, maybe a bed and a fireplace, seemed really nice right now and I didn’t want to spoil that by starting to tell him how pathetic his ‘Lady’ really was.

  
“Certainly.”  
The devil spread his wings again. They stood out from the darkening sky above like majestic ornaments and made his silhouette way more impressive than before.

  
My vixen tail swayed from the left to the right as I tried to stand up, trying to keep my balance. I ultimately failed and stumbled into his chest again, but he caught me before I could fall and took me into his arms as if I we're some kind of princess, looking down at me with a mixture of amusement and concern.

I smelled the soothing scent of bonfire and forest again as I buried my face in his clothes, taking deep breaths to breathe him in, unable to keep my dignity due to my immense fatigue.

The demon pulled me closer to his broad chest, then he took off.

 

I don't remember much of the flight itself, probably because I slept through it like a baby, but I remember the feeling of freedom and safety at the same time. Of being held and protected, shielded even, from the world I didn’t know.

  
Which was slightly alarming, because it showed how much I already trusted the former NPC who could kill me with one blow in my sleep if he damn well pleased.

He had not yet given up his loyalty, even pledged it to me again, but I could not be sure that things would stay this way.

We were not in Yggdrasil anymore. It was very well possible that he would consider this world a new beginning.. without a mistress.

  
At least I had regained some of my calm now, so my judgement would not be too bad. Probably.

 

When we finally arrived at the cabin he had been talking about, it was already in the late evening.  And I had been tired since we first got here. Which must have been hours ago, so the thought of finally be able to sleep in an actual bed was relieving to say the least. The temperature had dropped too, but since the devil who held me was so damn burning hot, (And I mean the literal hot. As in high temperature hot, even though the other meaning of the word would be equally fitting) I didn't even notice until we already were inside.

 

Demiurge pushed the door open with his leg and carried me into the cabin, putting me down on a wooden chair.

 

I looked around the small house.

It had a bed (thank goodness), a table with 4 wooden chairs, like the one I was sitting on, some shelves with various things on them, some of which I couldn't even identify, and the fireplace I had been hoping to find.

 

It was a rather small place, but I liked it. And as Demiurge had told me before, it looked like the inhabitants had left some time ago, judging from the dust on table and shelves.

 

I stood up from my chair and made my way over to the fireplace, where I sat down and curved my fluffy tail around my waist for warmth. I threw some wood inside and started to look around for something to start a fire with, only to be interrupted by the demons silky voice.

“Allow me.”

 

He held up one hand, a flame dancing on top of his palm. The movements of the blaze reflected in the demons glasses and behind them in his diamond eyes and send shivers down my spine I couldn't assign. Was it fear? Excitement? Joy?

 

He threw the little ball of flame into the fireplace, where it instantly started to devour the wooden logs I had placed in.

 

“You still have your skills,” I murmured, frowning. Thinking about the meaning of my discovery.

“Why of course. Why wouldn't I?” Now it was his turn to frown. “Don't you, my Lady?”

To be honest I didn't know. I was so occupied with self pity and fear that I hadn't even tested my limits yet.

 

A failure I had to right. I didn't want him to lose respect in me and start a killing spree of some sorts, which he would eventually do nonetheless. It would make sense if I had my powers, since I had my avatar's fox-humanoid body as well, but I was too tired right now, so I just ignored his question and shuffled around to get myself into a more comfortable position.

 

I laid my head down on my knees and my tail and stared into the fire for some time.

It was quiet inside the cabin.

Somewhere outside in the trees I heard the call of a screech owl and shuddered.

If this was a horror movie, Demiurge would try to kill me now.

I sent him a brief glance, but he was still standing where he had stood some minutes before. His pointy ears pulled back a little and his tail tip twitching in an expression of insecurity. His face showed no emotion at all.

 

I sighed quietly. He was captured here with me, after all. I shouldn't be so mean to him.

And hadn't I said I would take him with me If I could? Even though this was of course not what I have had in mind.

 

“Come sit with me” I heard myself saying, patting on the floor next to me.

He sat down next to me, staring into the flames.

“My Lady..” he started hesitantly, “please allow me to ask.. If you had the chance to leave.. without me..” He didn't finish his sentence, frowning at himself, for it wasn't like him at all to be insecure.  
I watched his face, the fire reflecting in his eyes, giving them a soft burning core and sending little glowing grains of light over his cheekbones.  
His gaze locked on the fireplace, he loosened his necktie a little, playing the elegant knot with nervous fingers.

He was afraid I would leave him? Oh that sweet irony. I had been quivering in my anxiety about him leaving me, just some hours ago. As I always did. Because I was an anxious piece of shit, when it came to people leaving. And since I knew that feeling all too well, I would never just leave him here.

I slowly started to shake my head.

 

“No... Demiurge. I will not abandon you or anything If that is what you are afraid of.” My voice had grown soft till the end.  
“I won’t leave.”

His frown slowly vanished, transforming into a smile of some sort.  
  
The fire crackled and he smiled into it a while longer, till he suddenly looked up. Looked at me, into my eyes with his own and I kind of lost myself in the diamond depth, drinking in the soft glow that shimmered within, like a ray of light that finally reached the bottom of a lake in the forest, illuminating mysterious abysms. My heart started to beat a little faster, and I felt my chest tighten.  
This was… _different_. Something had changed. In his gaze, in me.  
I had never felt something like this before. Something so… _intense_.  
I opened my lips a little, like I wanted to say something but actually I didn’t. I didn’t want to say anything. I wanted this moment to never end.  
 My sensitive fox ears twitched as I heard the beat of his heart speed up, as well. So this wasn’t one-sided?  
My tail brushed softly against his, and he reacted instantly, wrapping his iron plates around my fur, leaning in a little closer.  
We stared at each other for several precious seconds, until he realized. His eyes widened in slight shock and I was pretty sure my face took a light pinkish colour, too. At least it felt really hot.  


Turning back to the fireplace, very much to my frustration, he cleared his throat.

“You should rest... Lady Aleen.”

 

 

The Look in her eyes changed slightly when she looked at him, _intensified_ and he felt His heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that she…

 

No. He should really stop interpreting things into her reactions.

The fact that she took him, of all the inhabitants of Nazarick, meant nothing. It was simple measuring on her side. Because he, as the defensive leader of the great tomb, would be best suited to accompany her to unknown destinations.  

 

Her beautifully shaped ears twitched a little and he saw the slightest trace of a frown on her face right above her glistening amethyst coloured eyes.  
Her soft tail brushed against his and he didn’t even stop to consider, his tail immediately capturing hers in a soft embrace. Was this wrong? Would she hate him for this?  
His heart speeded up its pace, pounding in his chest like a blacksmiths hammer.  
What would she do if he touched her now? How would she feel under his hands? Under _him_?  


No!

He was not worthy to even think about being with her. She would detest him if she knew, what he just thought!  
 Quickly he turned his face to the flames and let go of the breath he had been holding.

“You should rest .. Lady Aleen.”

He nearly whispered, avoiding her gaze which was still locked on him, afraid what he would see if he met it.

 

To his slight disappointment, she really did rise from her position next to him without even responding and made her way over to the bed.  


“My Lady.” He dared to say after a few minutes of silence, but she had already fallen asleep.

Furled into the sheets, with her tail pulled around her waist.

He stared at her for a second then he left the cabin as quietly as possible.  
A raging fire within his chest, which he needed to calm… somehow.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guys,
> 
> I am not a native english speaker, so I need your help to improve my writing.  
> If you can spare the time I would be eternally grateful, if you could leave a constructive comment!
> 
> Thank you :*


	2. Atrocities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey there folks!  
> Please welcome with me the infamous chapter 2!  
> There is some bloody stuff happening here, but I tried not to make it too ugly.  
>  If you feel uneasy about the mentioning of rape and violence, then please skip this chapter.  
> Have fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Kensalyn for beta reading!  
> You are the best ^.^
> 
> Also thank you to all the other guys in the Overlord Discord!  
> You are awesome and I love you.

### Chapter two: Atrocities

 

   


When I woke up it was already midday and the sun was shining brightly through the window. Some rays of golden sunlight fell on the floor and gave it a warm chocolate colour.  
I stretched my limbs like a cat -or rather a fox- and stood up on my two feet.  
There wasn’t even confusion about where I was. I remembered everything quite clearly.  
Including me crying my eyes out when Demiurge had left to scout. Gosh that was so embarrassing!  
And the moment in front of the fire, which I really hoped was real and not just in my head or something...  
Demiurge had turned away rather quickly though…  
Speaking of which.  
Where had that devil disappeared to this time? For the tiniest moment I felt the all too well known fear climbing its way up into my heart before I managed to shake it off.

On the table was a huge loaf of bread. It was still warm.  
Immediately I felt the hunger I had tried to ignore until now rising up. To finally eat something would be sooo great!  
How the heck did he do that? Or rather… Who the heck did he take it from?  
But actually, it didn’t matter to me as much as I thought it would. I knew how he was designed to be, so he probably took it from someone he probably killed afterwards.

For a second or two, I was concerned about my lack of guilt though, but then I shook that thought aside.  
I was with Demiurge, after all. Having concerns about some human lives would only make everything more complicated.

   
I stuffed my mouth with the warm bread. It was delicious. It really was. Poor soul who had made it..  
A thought came to my mind: Maybe I took on the morale of my avatars species?  
Probably so, for my normal self would have freaked out by now, trying to get back to her world, to her family.

   
The thought of my family made me frown for a second.  
Which did not escape the attention of Demiurge who had just returned to the cabin.  
“My Lady? Are you well?”, he asked with a little twist of his head to the right. It had something of a cat’s gesture.

   
I turned around to face him in surprise; his silent footsteps weren’t even loud enough for me to hear them.  
Would he bring up yesterday’s “fire moment”? Probably not.  
He stood straight, with his hands behind his back, his plated tail curved around his right leg.  
But his clothes had changed. A little at least. Instead of his pin striped blazer and red necktie, he wore only his white shirt. His hair was a little messy, too.  
Also I thought the smell of smoke coming from him had intensified. That could be my imagination but I was nearly certain he had burned something down while I was asleep… Probably something huge…. Like a village…

   
Oh be damned.  
Looked like I had to set some ground rules here.  
“Demiurge…”  
He looked to me with a concerned look on his face. “My Lady?”  
“We need to talk about some... habits of yours. But please relax. I’m not mad or anything.”  
He frowned at me but changed to a more relaxed posture. His tail now softly patting the floor behind him.  
“First off: You smell. Please don´t burn anything down if not necessary.” He looked a little guilty, his ear-tips lowering to make him even more uneasy looking.  
It nearly made me grin, if I wouldn’t be so concerned about his nightly doings.  
This was like scolding a dog or something.

Gosh, I should have had this talk with him earlier.

“Next thing: Stop calling me ‘Lady’ whenever you talk to me. Aleen is just fine. Especially if we approach other creatures or humans. I am not that high and mighty as you apparently see me. And finally: No killing humans without necessity. You got that?”

 

He opened his mouth, closed it again and looked to the ground next to him in shame.  
“I may have….”  
“Yes I know.” I interrupted him before he could tell me that he had been on a rampage this night. Which he totally was. I knew it! “That’s why I brought this up.”  
His tail twitched up and down.

   
“Its ok Demi. I´m not mad or anything. Its just that I want to stay beneath the radar for a while. Until we know what we are up to against.”  
Also I didn’t want him to just randomly kill. I might have partly lost my sense of morale, but I still had my human consciousness and could decide not to want this. And I really did not want this.

   
He looked up, surprised by me shortening his name, but Demiurge was just too damn long. If I had to shout for him in a fighting situation, shouting the full thing would take valuable seconds. Also I liked the sound of “Demi” on my tongue.  
So I decided to just shorten it a bit. But maybe I should have asked him beforehand?  
“Certainly My L….. Aleen.”

   
Well he seemed to have no problem with the nickname.  
I nodded. Now that I was rested and had eaten, I felt refreshed and curious about what I had brought us into. And even though the thought of burned humans was a downer I wanted to get out and test my abilities to see if I even still had them.

   
Also I wanted to go to the next city (when Demiurge had found bread, that meant there were settlements. And quite certainly a town, too) to gather information and decide on what to do next.  
“Actually Demi, there is one more thing.”  
I wasn’t sure if I should say that, making my soft spot painfully clear, but I wanted him to know that I felt lost without him.  
He looked at me with those loyal, soft, crystalline eyes of his waiting for my command.  
“Please don’t leave my side.”

 

Maybe the devil had taken my request a little too literally, for he really didn´t leave my side anymore. But for the moment that was fine by me.  I didn’t want to be alone anyways.  
He still wore only his shirt. No necktie, no blazer. I really wanted to know what happened to those clothes. Well whatever. He could wear what he wanted to.  
And he should, too. Wasn’t it kind of good if he decided for himself?

   
I decided to just go outside to test my abilities.  
I could test my taunt on Demi. After all it was just a taunt and it shouldn’t have that much effect anyways.  
He agreed immediately, when I asked him.

 We left the house and turned to the left to reach a clearing with only smaller bushes scattered around.  
“You ready?”  
“Of course,” he replied softly.

   
Casting the spell was way easier than I had thought. It just took a little concentration and channeling, but it felt intuitive to me.

   
I cast  ‘song of the wilderness’ on my companion and watched him stumble back with confusion. Looking around like some child who got lost in the crowd.  
Huh, that was more effective than I had thought.

For he was a devil and would not simply fall for my illusions and embodiments of his desires or fears, I really had expected him to just shrug it off, but it seemed like I miscalculated on that one. Good thing I tried a control spell first and not one of those that could actually harm him.

 

His ears lowered visibly, his tail whipping through air and grass frantically.  
The confused look on his face really hurt. So I didn´t really care about burning humans, but I did care about him being lost and confused?

 

I could see him fight through the effect of my spell, shaking it off, until he suddenly seemed to see something different. His head snapped to his right as if something had just appeared next to him, his eyes grew wider and suddenly he went to his knees, shaking like a house of cards that got blown over, giving off a little yowl that scratched on my heart like fingernails on a blackboard.

 

That was enough for me. I could not bear it.

I wiped the amethyst aura away that had laid itself around the trembling Demiurge and hurried over to where he was sitting, his tail around his knees, heavily breathing.

 “Hey Demi?” I went on my knees in front of him, but he had hidden his face in his hands, his ear tips lowered.  
“Demiurge? Are you alright?”

 I put one hand to his cheek and tried to lift his face, to look at him, but he didn´t move.  
  
Just what had he seen in there? It’s a bad thing that I didn’t know. I never knew what I was showing my opponents, because it was a mirror of their deepest fears or greatest desires.

 

So what was Demiurges deepest fear or greatest desire?  
My heart grew heavy with guilt.  
I tried to swallow the knot that sat in my throat, but I couldn’t.

   
“I´m so sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t think it would work on you. I messed up. I´m sorry…”  
I put my arms around the still trembling demon and held him close.

   
“Is it … over...” he quietly asked, without lifting his head.  
“I stopped the spell 5 Minutes ago,” I murmured back, still holding him.  
He released his breath and lifted his head to look at me, a restrained grin on his face.

 

“Well that was…  _intense_. As expected from Lady Aleen the Vixen Wisp.”  
I really wanted to know what he had seen, but I didn’t want to force him to answer, so I didn’t. Instead I asked: “Are you alright? That looked…” _Horrifying!_ “Unpleasant.”

   
“Well it certainly was no walk in the garden,” he said with his usual wide, teeth baring grin.  
He rose up to his feet again, pulling me up with him.  
“Which spell would my L….. you want to try next?”  
He asked in his normal gentlemanly manner, without showing any sort of malaise at all. Was he that good an actor? Or did he really just wipe it off?  
“I wont try any more spells on you, Demi. I think I should search for actual targets, that won´t hurt me if I damage them.”

 

“So it does hurt you to damage me?” he grinned, fang baring. Devilish, but in the good kind of way.  
“Why of course.” I could play along with his little teasing. “Without you I won’t have a shield in actual combat.”  
This felt better. So much better than him just being devote and talking to me like I were some kind of high and mighty superior being, which I definitely was not.  
It actually felt a little like talking to Ulbert again.. Just way better. And it almost let me forget what I just did to him. Almost.  
He grimaced to me, then started grinning again.

 

“We should get going,” I suggested. “Making use of the daylight, maybe find a settlement that  _hasn´t_ yet burned to the ground.”  
His grin wavered for a second, but returned at once.  
“Sure my… Aleen. Then may I propose that we go east?”

 

He knew that he shouldn’t have gone on a killing spree last night. He should have stayed and waited for his mistress to give him orders.  
But her amethyst eyes staring into his very existence, into the depths of his very soul were too much for him to handle. He needed to calm his throbbing heart, his shaking hands, his spinning mind. He had to be calm to be of the most use for her.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t calm himself, for every time he closed his eyes, her face appeared before him.

   
Her beautiful, softly shaped face with her soft, but clearly noticeable cheekbones, her warm pinkish lips, split open and moist. And, of course, her glistening eyes.  
Sinking into his, making him lean closer.  
He couldn’t help but thinking of her with this unworthy mind of his.

   
So he had to release some steam.  
The small village way down in the west seemed perfect for this purpose. He had already passed several settlements on his way, in order not to draw attention to the cabin, where his Lady was sleeping.

   
Hellfire mantle burned the first house to the ground within seconds. Its inhabitants screaming and screeching while they turned to dust before his cold eyes and his wide grin.

But that was not enough for him, so he took his sweet time, killing the villagers off one by one until no one remained standing. Or breathing.

Until he was the last living being, standing on the ashes of what used to be a safe haven for its inhabitants. And he still was not calm. The throbbing had not faded, if anything it had intensified, driving him crazy.

 

He felt no guilt concerning their deaths. Or about destroying their houses and taking ‘souvenirs’. But he did feel guilty about bringing his lady into unpleasant situations. And it didn’t even help him at all.  
That was so damn frustrating.  
When he came back he nearly expected her to be furious. Shout at him and punish him. But she wasn’t.  
It was like she understood his need to blow of some steam or at least tolerated it. Like she really understood  _him_. She didn’t judge.  
Still it felt like he deserved the hellish cast she put on him to test her abilities.

Because hell it was. And not the kind of hell Demiurge genuinely enjoyed, but the kind that drove him nearly mad with despair. Playing along well with the pain that had already made itself at home inside his heart.

 

The delusions she had showed him, were far more than he could have handled. People, and situation seen through thick fog. Ulbert, his creator, also his fellow residents of the great tomb, as well as his lady herself. Right when he thought he could finally handle it, it all got even worse. This final illusion had literally taken his feet from beneath him. Left him falling into the darkness of despair, in which he had sent so many people before.

 

Paired with the unreal, somehow wafting setting of the amethyst haze that dwelled around him like mist and distorted and warped the trees around him to confusing forms of rising pillars or suddenly crushing waves and the slight laughter of a maiden, of this particular maiden, in the distance, unreachable, really got to him.

 

And he even knew that these were illusions. He didn’t even want to start thinking about being captured in this haze without knowing what to expect.  
Demiurge shook his head, trying to clear it from these thoughts.  
His Lady was fine. She was still with him. And she was walking right in front of him. He should really focus on what was real, or he might lose her to his carelessness.

 

He just finished this thought, when Lady Aleen came to a halt.  
“Demi.. that wasn’t you, was it?”  
She asked nodding over to the smoldering ruins of a house, that stood between some giant oak trees. He slowly shook his head.  
“No my Lady. I would never be so careless as to leave traces right next to the place you were resting.”  
She gave him an annoyed look when he called her ‘Lady’ again, but just answered:  
“Thought so. Then let`s examine this.”

  
I used a small detection spell to see if something was there, that wasn’t visible to the bare eye.  
But there wasn’t. Or so it seemed. Still I had to be careful. I couldn't know if there was illusion magic in this world that was stronger than mine.  
Taking a deep breath I started walking forward, only to be held back by a hand around my wrist.  
I quickly turned around to face my companion.  
“Lady Aleen,” Demiurge said, “Please allow me to go in first.”  
His face  _way_ to close to mine.

I nearly stopped breathing, stumbling backwards and calming my breath. I could swear I saw the glimpse of a grin on his face before his expression went back to being straight.

 

I wanted to contradict, I really didn’t want to put him into any danger, but it made sense. If he got captured into anything, I could get him out. _Probably_. If it was the other way round, it would be even more difficult. He would burn everything around him if he tried to use really effective attacks here. Including me. I did have fire resistance, but that was quite useless against his hellfire. And were resistances even the same here? My ‘Song of the wilderness’ in Yggdrasil just came with the status effect 'confused’ and not with 'deeply traumatized’. But it was way more effective here.

Also I was stronger than him, but I had less HP. So I shouldn’t try to tank, that would not be a very effective strategy. And I needed to think effective if we wanted to make it in unknown territory.

So I nodded and stepped back, letting him through.

 

Demiurge entered the burned house before me, but not without a little glance over to me, with this hint of a grin.

 

“It seems safe … Aleen,” he called a few moments later.  
Wondering why he suddenly changed back to calling me by my name, I followed him inside.  
It was a small house, with only one room, very much like our cabin, but even smaller and of course burned down.

 

The room was a mess. Chairs and the table were smashed and thrown over. Pans and some wooden cooking ware were broken and shattered on the ground.  
A doll with only one hand left laid smoldering in the coals.  
And there was blood. A lot of it actually. Enough that my former self would have stumbled back in fear, probably emptying her stomach, but I seemed to have changed quite a bit.

 

Demiurge offered me his hand, so I could step over burned wooden furniture without having to get dirty. I gladly accepted, letting him lead me to the other side of the room.

 

There on the floor was a girl. Maybe 16 years old, maybe a little younger. She laid in a pool of her own blood. Her bare breasts had been cut open, as was her belly, and she seemed to have been raped several times. Her hair was ripped off and bloody and she had several burn marks all over her body.

 

The sight alone was enough that a normal person from my world would need to see a therapist afterwards.

The damage was way too big for me to repair, even if I wanted to, since I only had healing spells which worked on me, allies or NPCs assigned to me, and even they were weak. She would die. It even was a miracle that she was still alive. Also the emotional damage would still be there if I could heal her body. I was not able to erase her memory. I was not able to do anything, actually. I was useless for her.

 

The best would be to end her suffering. I closed my eyes for second, taking a deep breath and looked at the floor to my right. This was hard. Not as hard as it would have been for my former, book lecturing self, but still hard.

 

I thought about asking Demiurge to do it... It would be easier for me. The easy way out, so to say... But no. I had to do it myself. I could not just give all the responsibility to a demon.  
And he wouldn’t be gentle about it, too.  
Maybe he would even burn her or something.

 

So I knelt down next to the girl, placed my hand on her feverish forehead and watched her for a few moments before I talked.  
“I am sorry my dear. My voice will be the last you will hear.”  
I cast ‘dream whisper’ on her, and sent her mind on a beautiful open field, with wild horses and flowers. At least let her see something beautiful before her death, if I wasn’t able to do anything else.

 

One casting of ‘Nymphen Kiss’ later, she was drained from all her life, and her last breath went over her greyish lips. I felt a little healthier than I did before.  
So my abilities did mostly still work as they should. And their casting seemed really easy, nearly natural to me.  
Even when taking a life. I just realized, this was the first time I killed someone.

If this continued as it had till now, then it wouldn’t be the last time.

 

I stood up again, brushing the dust from my robes.  
"Well then. It seems there is nothing more we can find here.”  
Well, aside from corpses.

 

“You are too kind my Lady. To waste such a valuable spell on such a low creature.”  
I sighed. Deeply. How could I make him understand? I wasn’t that much different from those ‘low creatures’ as he called them.

“It is important to show respect to those who died innocent. Of course it is a different story with our foes.” I gave him a look.  “Maybe you could go by that in the future.”

 

I did not want to be a know it all, or act as a higher being, but I sure hoped that next time he would kill humans, it would be some who actually deserved it.  
  
The rest of the inhabitants were already dead. Their broken bodies piled up neatly over one another. Which made it easier for me. So I didn´t have to go and try healing them or deciding how to kill them.

 

We left the house again, and I felt more than just a little relieved. The smoking ruins were indeed depressing. Also my animalistic instincts told me to stay away from such places. I really wanted to get away from there. But at least I didn’t puke or even felt dizzy. Upside to my state of mind.

 

“Demiurge were did you see the next settlement? Is a town in reach?”  
He nodded slightly. “Further in the east, there seemed to be a small town of some sort. I could fly us there.”  
“No actually I enjoy walking. Thank you.”

I really wanted to eat something soon though. It had already been some time since I had breakfast.

   
It was a two hour walk to the town, and we had already made one and a half when my sharpened fox ears heard voices and laughter. I stopped, gesturing to Demiurge to stop as well, while going into stealth with my passive skill ‘aspect of the wild’, taking the time to shortly check if it worked as it should, before I started moving again.

Slowly we approached the camp of some men, maybe five or six of them. All of them wearing ragged armour and notched weapons leaned against some greater rocks next to them. They sat around their campfire, laughing and drinking poor quality liquor, based on the scent of it.

I whispered to the devil to stay behind, while going in myself.  
The reason, why I stealthed my way in there, was because of another smell than the liquorish one.  
We had taken a different route than them, but I was really sure we had been to the same place recently. A burned down house with a dying girl inside.

  
These were the men who killed the family back there.  
And them laughing like nothing happened really made my blood boil with anger.

  
When I stood right amidst their camp I dissolved my stealth and went back to being visible again. The men jumped with fright, immediately taking their weapons. I couldn’t blame them. Anyone with some sort of brain would arm themselves if some fox girl just appeared right before them. This didn’t made me less angry, though.

  
I implied a small bow.

"Gentlemen, I am  _so_ sorry for interrupting your little victory celebration,” I smiled, innocently, slightly seductive. “It seems I have lost my way. Would you be so kind as to help me regain it?” I accentuated my words with a alluring wink. Knowing what it would do with their libido.

  
/~  _Lady Aleen_ ~/

  
Demiurges voice in my head nearly made me jump. So it was possible to direct message someone here too? Or was this some kind of telepathy?

  
/~  _Yes I guess that is my name?_ ~/

  
I could literally  _feel_ his smirk in my back, where he was standing behind some trees.

  
/~  _As I very well know. What are you planning to do?_ ~/

  
I didn’t know. I just kind of reacted. It seemed my instincts got the better of me again. But could I tell him that?

 

  
/~  _Just making my day a little better. You will need to assist me on that if it is ok with you. I will call for you._ ~/

 

  
It was true. Not what I had thought, when walking right in here, but still true.  
He sent me a slightly confused expression over the message call.

  
“Are you some kind of kitten slut?” One of the men asked, his voice sounding dazed and muzzy, grinning at me with rotten teeth.  
Ok wow. That was nasty. Now I kinda wanted to tear his stomach open. No, that was not right. I  _really_ wanted to tear his stomach open. I wanted to bury my claws in his flesh, ripping him apart piece, by piece.

  
/~  _Allow me to rip him to shreds…_ ~/

  
Looked like Demiurge shared my opinion. Probably not for the same reasons, but still.  
I ignored him nonetheless and answered with the same innocent smile:

  
“Why thank you, you are too charming. No actually, I am just a traveller who has lost her way.”  
A soft movement of my body brought my hair in motion. It wafted around my head like seaweed in the grip of ocean waves.  
The men lowered their weapons, grinning at each other like lovesick idiots, slowly coming my way.

“I will show you a way, my sweetheart.” The man in the middle, a huge, muscle packed person with dark sunken eyes, stretching his arm out for me.  
So this was their leader. Fucking bastard.

"I have really quite admired your…  _work_ of this morning,” I purred, still smiling, but my eyes hardened. It was hard to control my boiling emotions, but I tried my best not to lose my composure.  
He hesitated, slowly lowering his arm again. Confusion on his face, as his head wasn’t quite comprehending what happened.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he mumbled, scratching his scruffy bearded chin.

  
“Oh you don’t? That’s a shame. I really wanted to punish you for that while you have her broken little face before your inner eyes.”

  
He started to realize now. It was like he awoke from a wonderful dream he has had and suddenly had to face a horrific truth.  
“Punish us?” The man laughed slowly, then his expression suddenly got dangerous.

  
“If you have seen her, then you know what awaits you, sweetheart. She had screamed so lovely. And pledged to us to spare her little brother. That kid’s limbs were so delicate when we ripped him apart. That is what we are going to do with your corpse. You little piece of shit.”

  
I could feel Demiurge tense up and hear his deep growl, even though he stood several feet away. I knew that he really wanted to slaughter them.

Actually I had planned to let Demi burn down their tents and send them into their little time of regret inside my song of the wilderness, but now he had made me really  _really_ angry.  
And not just me. My demon companion seemed to be close to exploding.  
  
"Demiurge,” I said, still softly and with the most melodic voice I could bring myself to use. “Would you join me, please.”

His expression changed from angry to angry but relieved that I let him stay by my side. Really overprotective, this one.  
He stepped up to me, eying the men in front of us with a rather disgusted expression and came to a halt very close to me, his hands folded in his back, his tail tip whipping the air behind him.

  
“So the kitten got a dog, huh?”

  
All of the men laughed. It sounded a little insecure and frightened, but I ignored them. I had grown such a hate inside my chest that I didn’t even think about it with any morale.

“Demiurge.  Do you remember, what I said about killing humans?”

“Of course,” he replied. Tension in his voice.

“Well, I might have changed my mind. Please be quick about it, but make it painful.”

  
From the corner of my eye I could see him put on his most devilish grin. Cruel and heartless. But somehow a little too … fired up?  
  
“Certainly. Would you step back, my Lady. I would not want you to dirty yourself with these lower creatures blood.”  
I really didn’t want him to call me lady, or to be so overprotective of me, but I did appreciate his warning and took three steps back.

  
“What nonsense is this?” The leader of the bandits growled, lifting his sword, ready to attack.

  
“Silence. Stop Moving.” The echo of my companions command mantra reverberated from the thick pillar-like trunks of the trees around.  
I really liked the sound of it. It sounded fuller, deeper than his usual voice (Which I also liked very much)  
The men stopped moving mid-movement and just stared at him in confusion. They didn’t even resist.

  
My old me would have looked away and buried her face in horror, probably ran away to hide. She would have been disgusted by me. Would have thought I had no humanity in me at all. But this time I just watched, as Demiurge did to those men what they had intended to do with my corpse.

  
He ripped them apart. Literally.  
His crystalline eyes reflecting the red colour of their blood, while he totally went into rampage, slashing his way through bones and limbs, with his razor sharp claws.

  
The men couldn’t even move to defend themselves. This wasn’t a fight. It was carnage.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a native english speaker, so I need your help to improve my writing!
> 
> If you could spare the time to leave a constructive comment I would be forever grateful.  
> If there is anything you don't like, please feel free to tell me!  
> Especially, if you think, that I need to add tags or warnings.
> 
> Love you all!


	3. Illusions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first few lines still contain a little blood, but the rest of the chapter is harmless.  
> So if you skipped chapter 2, you can continue with this one.

### Chapter 3: Illusions

  
In the end, there wasn’t much left of the men, who had killed an innocent girl and her family.  
I stared at bones and formless flesh on the floor in numbness.  
This was wrong, wasn’t it?

Commanding Demiurge to kill for me? Watching without horror, even stepping back so I won’t get bloodstains on my clothes?

I knew him as a great opponent, a strong guardian, a devilish master of torture, but this was different. He did not just kill them. He didn’t even just slaughter them. He did it with so much _passion._ Where did that even come from?

Just loyalty? Why? Why would he be so offended by them insulting me?

Was it just because I was a “supreme being” as he called it?  
So he would kill for me without hesitation. Huh.

The demon had stopped his rage, breathing heavily.  
His hands were still forming claws, blood dripping from them, shimmering in the light of the slowly sinking sun.

 

He slowly rose to his full height again, lowering his arms, transforming his hands back. His ears twitched slightly as he panted, visibly trying to calm his breath. I had to admit, I was a little terrified.  
Not because of the slaughter, but because of his gaze while doing it.  
Because he didn’t do it calmly and enjoyed it, like he should.

 I had read his character sheet more than once. He was a strategist. A cold blooded killer, doing everything he does with perfection. When killing he had his fun, watching the growing terror in his opponents eyes, taking the most pleasure out of their screams.  
He shouldn’t get in rage like that. Not even for the sakes of his masters.

It just wasn’t like him. And that terrified me. If he wasn’t like he was supposed to be, what else could have changed about him?

Demiurge slowly turned to face me. His head and ear-tips lowered in an expression of _defeat_? He looked at me, as if he expected me to judge him. Hard.  
As if he was _broken_.

 “I am sorry…”, He whispered, quietly, “I… kind of lost my cool.”

 

She hadn’t talked much on the rest of the way to the city. Her ears hanging low and her tail dragged on the floor behind her. She seemed deep in thought.  
He was, too. Trying to figure out what to do with this world, how he could make life easier for her and what to do with these burning feelings inside him, which he nearly couldn't control.

Which took him over like a tornado of red inferno and blue ghost fire, swirling around, slowly turning into a glistening amethyst colour.  
The colour of her eyes.

 

It just wasn’t like him to lose his cool two days in a row. Burning down some village, then getting all worked up about some human pigs. He should have just slain them coldly, for they didn’t deserve his attention.  
Why didn’t he just execute them?

 But just thinking about them made his blood boil again and he had to take some deep breaths to not get into rage again.  
The sun had already started to set, the golden rays of light reflecting on the city’s gate and the shining chest plates of the guards in front of it.  
His lady slowed down her pace, looking at the gate from some distance with a soft frown.

 

“Demiurge Wait.”  
  
She watched the gate carefully, then turned to face him, with the hint of a grin.  
“I am sorry. But we stand out way too much. Ohhhh you will hate this!”  
She moved her hand slightly, murmuring something, then looked at him again, eying him from top to bottom. Seemingly satisfied.  
He didn’t feel different, but when he looked down on himself, his eyes widened slightly.  
Instead of his red pin striped suit, he was wearing brown trousers just like the ones human adventurers wore all the time. Dark brown boots and even his white shirt looked different now. The fabric had changed to… linen? It was corded, too.

He rose his hands to look at them and looked at average human hands. No gloves, no claw-like fingernails. Even his tail was gone. But it still felt the same as before.  
Experimentally he tried to move it, and it did, whirling up dust as he patted the floor.  
His lady’s illusion magic was exceptional. Even he wouldn’t be able to tell.

He really did not like it though. Looking like a lower creature in rural clothes was humiliating.  
To think his lady would have to undergo the same process...  
“It is just an illusion. So I hope you will stand it. Underneath you still look like Ulbert made you. Well, minus the blazer and necktie that is.”  
Oh right. His necktie. He had put it into his right pocket, hadn’t he?  
The blazer though… It pained him to think about it.  
He had accidently destroyed one of the few things his creator had left him.

 

I was kind of torn apart on this one.

I was proud of my work, because Demiurge really looked like some (maybe a little odd) human adventurer, but I also kind of missed the sight of his tail-tip whipping the air, his long pointy ears and his crystalline eyes, which where now human eyes with a blueish-grey shade.  
Also the suit did fit him better.  
Well it was just an illusion, so it was ok I guess.  
Next I changed myself.

My modified kimono, that gave me more movement freedom and was meant to bewitch my foes, changed to the degree until it really looked like just a normal one instead, then I added a brown coat, my tail and ears vanished and my hair took on a lighter shade of whiteish blue.  
The fur on my belly disappeared and my paw/claw-hands changed to human ones.  
I watched Demiurge watch my transformation and saw his gaze change from concerned to slightly surprised.

 

“How do I look?” I asked, stretching out my arms  
“To my surprise, you look as beautiful as ever.”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, pretending to be offended.

“To your surprise?” I asked him, with a frown.

He stared at me for about 5 seconds, the gears in his head turning, and I could nearly see him asking himself how he could get himself out of this.

 

“My Lady.. I-“

“I’m kidding dude.”

He nodded in relief. “I had hoped you were. But you do still look stunning. We will stand out, I’m afraid.”  
I felt my cheeks softly blushing.

No false modesty here. I knew that my avatar was really good looking. I had designed her to be the secret dream that men had, she was supposed the be the will’o’Wisp that lead them to their end with illusions and dream like impressions. And now she was me. So I really was good looking and I knew it.  
But I had not asked him, in hope of a compliment.

 

The reason why I did was simple.  
With Demiurge it had been rather easy. He could just keep his face. I just needed to change some prominent attributes. Not much fantasy required.  
Tail, ears and eyes. The rest could just stay the same.  
But my face had something of a foxes. With those black-framed eyes and the slightly animalistic nose, even with the frame of my cheekbones, I would completely blow my cover.

 

So I took the first face for my inspiration that came to my mind. The face I knew the best and mixed it a little with my avatars. Mine. My face from the real world. Or rather from the old world. (This world seemed real, too after all)  
And since I didn’t have a mirror to look at myself, I just didn’t know how I looked now.

 

He smiled at me softly, with now human eyes and I felt a sudden shudder run over my back.  
Even though he really kind of scared me earlier, his smile still made my heart beat faster. This was so damn confusing.  
But the sun had sunken nearer to the horizon, and as I knew medieval worlds (And I knew a lot about them, because I had always been kind of a medieval geek), the guards would close the gate, once the sun was gone.

We should get going, I didn’t have time to think about my pounding heart.

 

“Alright then, lets go!”

  
We passed the guards, who did not even bother to talk to us and entered the town, the gates closing behind us with the disappearance of the sun as I had thought.  
It was getting a little cold without the light and I pulled the brown cloak firm around my shoulders, before I remembered, that it was only an illusion. It could not keep the cold out at all, instead it only got colder, as the movement of my arms brought the air in motion.  
“Ok lets see if we can find some place to sleep”  
Demiurge looked at me and I thought I could see his pointy ears twitch and his tail brush the ground, but, of course, I didn’t. My illusion was perfect, after all.  
  
“Aleen, why would you want to stay here for the night? I could just easily fly us back to the cabin and return in the morning.”  
He said, taking his time while pronouncing my name as if it were some delicious treat that he didn’t want to let go to waste.  
I shook off the urge to shove my face into his chest and looked down the street we were following. I had already thought about that, but somehow I wanted to experience this to its fullest.    
Who knew when it would end? Maybe some god of fate had already realized his mistake and would take me back into my world soon?  
With this thought returned the fear and I shivered with anxiety.  
“Aleen?”  
“Its nothing. Sorry.” I took a deep breath and tried to shake off the fear. “I would like to get to know this world. As much as I can. So I would like to stay here, if that is ok with you?”  
Demiurge adjusted his glasses, probably to gain time, while looking to the floor.  
“I see”; he said quietly. “It is not fitting for you, for you are a supreme being, but if this is what you want, it would never occur to me, to stop you.”

I was absolutely positive, that he new that there was something more, but he let it slip, apparently not wanting to push into that matter.  
  
“Demiurge… I…” I wanted to tell him so many things right now. That I was no supreme being, no beautiful fox, just some woman, that had lived alone for years and had chosen online games over actual people, because of the nagging fear that she, I would be abandoned, again.  
That I was afraid, he would do this to me, or something would do this to us.  
That I didn’t know if I could keep my promise to stay with him. That I didn’t want to leave. And that I really _really_ wanted to touch him, again. But I didn’t say anything, because I was still an anxious piece of shit that was afraid of his reaction.  
  
He opened his mouth as to say something but I had already turned around and continued following down the street.

“Look! I think that is an inn over there”

 

The sign over the door said “golden swordfish”, but when we entered the taproom, the establishment wasn’t golden at all.  
An intense stench of sweat and testosterone swelled in my face and in my sensitive nose, making me grimace.  
So this was how the inns in Yggdrasil would have smelled like?  
Good grief. Did those guys never shower?  
Probably not, I answered to myself, while I made my way over to the counter.  
Taking a sideward glance at the waitress who held some coins that seemed to be the currency here.  
  
“Hi!” I showed my widest grin to the host, who was busy with wiping the shelves behind him with a dirty cloth. “Do you have free rooms for the night?” gesticulating between Demiurge, who stood behind me, warily eying the scenery around us. His gaze filled with disapproval.  
It was a shot in the dark. I didn’t even know if he rented out rooms, at all. And neither did I know if that was how it worked here, but the guy nodded slightly without even really looking up to me, grumbling something into his beard, that looked like it needed some serious work of a barber done.  
He held up three dirty fingers and pointed at the coins next to him with the other hand.  
I reached into the non existing pockets of my non existing cloak and pulled out a handful of non existent coins. Three of which I handed the host. They felt heavy in my palm, but I knew that they just induced this feeling. It wasn’t really there.  
He took them, without really looking at them and threw them into the bowl to the others.  
God bless illusion magic!  
It would not work for long, but he would not realize those coins were gone just by looking at the pile of money.  
  
“Marta!”, he yelled at the waitress, that chattered with some other women in a corner of the room.  
She was a plump person in her late thirties or early forties, I couldn’t really tell, with huge breasts and curly blond hair. She wore a dirty brown dress, that kind of reminded me of the dirty cloth the host had used to ‘clean’, and heavy boots, that seemed not quite fitting to the rest of her appearance.  
When she heard the shout, she came wiggeling over to us, a wide smile on her face.  
  
“Welcome! Welcome sweeties! I will show you to your room, immediately! Come, come!” I exchanged a look with the still silent Demiurge, before following the woman up some stairs in the back of the building, up to where the rooms where located.  
Escaping the gaze of a dozen men, who had stared at me since to moment I first entered the building.  
She blathered something about a girl in the street that had sex with two men at once, how unbelievable that was, how she could dare and that faithfulness was so important, especially these days, then suddenly turned to face me: “You agree, don’t you, love?”  
I had only listened to her with half an ear and looked at her with confusion for a moment when she asked me.  
“Ehh ah Yes! Yes of course! V-Very important!”  
Demiurge laughed softly and I could feel his breath in my neck. Damn he was way too close, again.  
  
The waitress didn’t even realize the delay of my answer, but turned around again, chattering on, while opening a door that lead to a small room with one bed and a crooked wardrobe.  
Not very inviting, but whatever. I didn’t expect a mini bar and a TV or anything of the sorts anyways.  
  
“So love! Have a good night! If you two want to eat something, just come down, then I will see what I can do about it! If not then… _Sweet dreams_ ”  
She winked at Demiurge before leaving and I felt my face blushing.  
“That is not..”  
But she was already gone. Leaving me mumbling like some idiot with deep red cheeks.  
“Is not… what, my Lady?” The amusement in his voice was undeniable.  
I chose to ignore him and let myself fall onto the bed, when suddenly a thought occurred to me.  
“Demiurge… do you need to sleep?”  
“Not as much, as you do. But yes. I do require sleep.I did not wear my ring, when we arrived here.”  
The ring which made all floor guardians immune to the effect of fatigue and hunger. So he needed to eat now, too. As well as I did. And I was kind of hungry, too.  
“Hmmm.”  
We only had one bed, and I really didn’t want him to lay on the floor or something.  
What he probably had done last night, if he had slept at all.  
But I could think about that problem after we had something to eat.  
  
The food was not bad, but it was not amazing either, and thinking about the hosts dirty fingers made it hard to swallow anything.  
But my hunger was stronger and so I devoured my whole portion of stew, before pushing the wooden bowl aside and letting myself fall into the sheets again.  
  
Demiurge was sitting on the floor, with his legs crossed, his invisible tail whirling up dust behind him as he slowly moved it from left to the right.  
He didn’t say much since we arrived here but it was clearly visible, that he hated this place.  
And he hated for me to be here.  
Actually I was more than surprised he had not objected out aloud at all.  
He did not try and convince me to go back to the cabin or search for better food, neither did he stop me from laying down on the bed, which probably wasn’t the cleanest, either.  
Somehow he seemed to have accepted, that this was important to me.  
  
“Sooooo” I awkwardly started.  
“I assume, you would want to address the matter of sleeping places. Since I could never allow myself to rest on a bed, if my lady sleeps on the floor, I will stay down here.”, Demiurge replied with a subtle smile.  
I narrowed my eyebrows. Of course he had realized immediately, what I wanted to talk about and had looked through my thoughts, as well, but I wasn’t finished with that yet.  
I let myself slide down the bedside, till I sat on the floor in front of him, staring at him with my still narrowed brows and probably the look of an unsatisfied kid, without saying anything.  
  
He readjusted his glasses again, clearing his throat.  
“What would you have me do my lady?”  
“I won’t let you sleep on the floor.”, I said quietly, kind of embarrassed, that I really had to say it aloud. “So if you won’t let me take the floor, then we will both take the bed.”  
My cheeks blushed and I looked down to the floor between us.  
Out of the corner of my eye I could see him blink several times. No emotion showing on his face at all.  
  
“Lady Aleen… that.. I could never dare to..”  
“Is being with me such a bother?”  
I knew that this wasn’t it, but him doing this ‘Lady Aleen is high and mighty, I am not worthy’ shit again really pushed my buttons. Could as well let him have a taste of his own medicine.  
He blinked at me again, with a look that told me he knew exactly what I was aiming at.  
“No. It is no bother at all. I live to serve you after all.”  
I wanted to punch him in the face in this moment. So hard.  
  
Why did he need to be like this? Sometimes teasing the hell out of me and then again keeping straight distance, not wanting to cross his limits.  
He reminded me of… Yeah, well, he reminded me of me.  
That was exactly how I had treated every last man in my life so far. But for other reasons than his. Probably.  
“Don’t give me this shit, Demiurge. I don’t even want to be your superior! I never asked for this!”  
He flinched as if I really had punched him. Looks like I hit a nerve.  
“Gosh, dude! Not what you think! I don’t want to leave! I want to be at eye level with you! I want you to think for yourself and be yourself. Why don’t you get this? You are supposed to be so smart, my ass!!”  
  
In my outburst I jumped up, let the control over my illusion magic slip and returned us to our original forms. I didn’t mean to, but the sight of my ears flat against my head, my black framed fox eyes narrowed to slits, my tail angrily whipping the air behind me and the little blue foxfire flames, that danced around my tense body, had its effect on the devil before me.  
He slowly stood up to meet my furious gaze with caution.  
“Aleen, Please consider the situation you are putting me in. This is not easy for me. I was designed to know my place.”  
I stared at him. At his now again diamond eyes and lowered pointy ears and suddenly felt as if all tension had left my body. I turned around and curled into the sheets of the bed, extinguishing the flame on the candle next to the bed with a slight movement of my hand.  
“Fine. Do whatever you want. What do I care”  
  
I swallowed my tears of rage and sadness and tried to calm myself. I was behaving like some spoiled child. Getting angry because he didn’t want to sleep in a bed with me. What the hell. Every gentleman would have acted the same way as he did.  
But I just couldn’t stand this. It was just too much. Being thrown into this was bad enough. Being thrown into this and having to meet this constant devotion? Really bad!  
And me being a fox only made matters worse. Somehow the instinctive behaviour of my species made me unpredictable and impulsive as hell.  
  
Slowly the realization about my attitude seeped in and made me blush in shame. Good thing it was dark, now.  
He had not moved. I could hear him breathe softly, standing at the exact spot like before.

“I am sorry”, I whispered. “I don't know why I said that. I am stupid. You did nothing wrong.”

Demiurge hesitated before speaking, carefully choosing his every word.

“No, you were not entirely wrong. You told me earlier that you were afraid and confused. That you didn't want me to kneel in front of you and that you didn’t want me to call you Lady, either.” He hesitated again, waiting if I would say something, but I didn’t, so he continued: “Still I completely relied on you being superior. Instead of doing what would really help you, I selfishly held on to old habits. I even got you in difficult situations, because of my lack of self control.”  
He stepped closer and leaned against the bedside, slowly, cautiously, afraid I would snap at him or something.  
“I put the entire responsibility for everything on your neck. And that was… beyond stupid. I still can’t deny you the respect I have for you as a superior being. And for that I need to ask your lenience, but I will do my best to follow your wishes and try to… think for myself. Also I am selfishly very relieved, that you don't want to leave.”  
  
I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. That was so wrong and twisted on a very confusing level, I couldn't even begin to understand. It was like I had ordered him to not just follow my orders.

Wasn't that kind of paradox?  
But it was a start, I guess. I still felt guilty, though.  
  
“Still, if it is ok for you, I would take the floor. Not only because of my position, but also because.. I would feel like I was invading your personal space. And I don’t want to force you to deal with this kind of problem.”  
_Yes that is exactly, what I want you to do! Please invade my personal space!_ I hissed internally. But I didn’t say it. I had already made a fool out of myself today. No need to repeat that.  
Instead I tossed him a blanket.  
“Okay sure.”

 

Demiurge looked down at the blanket in his gloved hands and let out a little sigh.  
He would have loved to slip into the bed with her. To pull her close to his chest and bury his nose into her hair as he had done before, when he thought the world was about to end, but he had lost control to often already. What if he did something, she wouldn’t forgive him? Then he would have lost everything.  
His creator, who had long disappeared, his world, his late bar evenings with Cocytus, and the one he cared about the most.  
She was the last of the supreme beings. One of the last three who had stayed until the very end, but she was also so much more. To him she was the world.  
He knew that he had twisted what she had said into some sort of compromise, but what she demanded of him was just impossible.  
Meeting her on eye level, when she was so much more than him. When he had been created, to serve her. He didn’t know how he should do that. If he could do that, that is.  
He would love to be more to her than just a servant, yet he did not dare to really consider it.  
  
With a subtle shake of his head, he went on his knees and pulled the blanket around his shoulders. It smelled musty and old, but also held a sweet, light fragrance like apples and wild berries. Demiurge closed his eyes for a second, letting the scent seep into his senses, before finally laying down to sleep.  
To sleep, when he should guard his lady.  
This was a bother.  
Why didn’t he wear his ring? He couldn’t remember. Somehow it was, like something had wiped out parts of his memory.  
Could that be it? But if that was the case, then it could only have been one of the superior beings.  
As far as he remembered, there were three of them left, when the world ended.  
His Lady Aleen, as well as Lord Momonga and….And…  
The devil frowned while staring into the dark, listening to the soft sounds Lady Aleen made while sleeping. It was a soothing background noise like dribbling raindrops and he started to feel sleepy, already.  
But who could the third superior being be? Why didn’t he remember?  
Could he even trust any of his memories?  
Could it be that there was a connection to their being in this world?  
Sleep crawled in on the demon, taking him over, softly dragging him out of his consciousness. He could think about that tomorrow.  
Now he would just burrow himself into his lady’s scent and get some sleep. He had to be of use for her in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what to do, my dudes!  
> Leave a comment, tell me what I should do better, or how I could improve my writing!
> 
> And don't forget to always pay attention to things. They might end up being an illusion.  
> You can never know.


	4. Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Aleen should have made herself ugly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: If you haven't noticed yet: this world is *NOT* the same one as in the overlord light novels/Anime !!
> 
> Which means: No I did NOT make a mistake, with the stuff written in this chapter.
> 
> Nonetheless: have fun reading!

###  Chapter 4: Complications 

The sunrise in this world was beautiful.  
I stared out the window in awe, while soft red to peach-coloured layers of light started to spread over the sky, like a halo for the horizon.  
It was different from the sunrise in my world, but still very similar.  
I couldn’t even point out the difference, but I still knew it was there.  
If I had seen a picture of this sunrise, I would have known, that this was the sunrise in this new world, without any doubt.  
I wondered, if I could ever return home, would I look up the sky like this and think about this?  
I sighed, stared at the rising sun for another three minutes, or so, until I turned to face the room, and with it Demiurge and my shame from yesterday.

 

If I could, I would have removed this memory from my brain, but I didn’t have the capabilities to do so. Maybe I could illusion-fake my death and start to live in the sewers or something? ‘  
I put that thought aside, groaning, running through my hair with my fingers.  We had more important stuff to do than sinking into eternal shame.  
For example confirming the rules of this world, like:

Was there a guild? Could you get a job, just by choosing to be something? Or would it work like in my old world, where you needed to have some sort of degree, to be able to perform?

How did the magic of this world work and how strong were the opponents? Did we even have opponents? If we died, would we stay dead ? (Maybe I should have given that one a thought, _before_ engaging in a fight, but well.)

 

Or the more down to earth questions:

Could I find a place where I could take a decent bath? And could I improvise a toothbrush?  
My hair was not greasy or anything and I thought I didn’t stink, either, but it still felt weird, to know that I hadn’t showered in 3 days and had done a lot body movement in this time.

 

I stared down at the still sleeping demon and shook my head with a little smile.  
Didn’t he say he wouldn’t need as much sleep as I did? But who was I to judge?  
I had been the queen of oversleeping for all my working life.  
To that degree, that my coworkers started calling me ‘sleeping beauty’ and were more than astonished, when I was actually on time for once.

My eyes trailed over his body, curled up under the blanket like a puppy and I sighed again.  
Better keep a little distance, for now. Yesterday had made everything quite awkward and I didn’t want this to repeat itself.

 

I decided to pretend yesterday did not happen and just handle him like I had before, just with a little more space between us, so I just snatched the blanket away from him with a strong pull, waking him up while doing so.

“Get up sleepyhead! We have things to do!”

 

After a quick breakfast in the taproom under the constant stare of some guys who just wouldn’t take their eyes of me for some reason, we left the inn to take a look around the town.  
There were some shops, mostly for food and such, but also one or two that sold weapons, some craftsmen, something like a pharmacy and a blacksmith.

 

It looked like a medieval town in Europe would probably have looked like, but there were traces of differences.  
There were definitely magic users in this world, but they were different from back in Yggdrasil.

I was not able to identify the tiers of their magic. Maybe there was no system to organize the casters into levels, at all, instead they just tried and depending on how they were feeling today, their knowledge and skill, their motivation and maybe some luck, a spell would work, or it wouldn’t.

Actually that would confirm my observation about my spells.  
I didn’t even have a mana-pool, instead I just felt slightly tired, after using ‘Song of the wilderness’  
I made a mental note, to talk to Demiurge about how his abilities worked and if he had noticed any differences.

Also I thought I saw some non human races wandering around. I should address that, too.

 Demiurge would look into the question if there was a some sort of guild, as it existed in many video games(discretely, as I hoped) and how job classes worked here,  
so I would check the shops, talk to people and see what I could find out about the general rules.  
(And do some shopping, because I was a woman, after all and I didn’t even have a bag)

 

 I went to the pharmacy fist.  
The old pharmacist I asked about healing stuff, was quite accommodating.  
Apparently there were no potions, no HP either.  
The health-system worked like it had back in my old world… kind of.

So there was healing magic here, but it didn’t just randomly heal the wound as a whole. You needed to ‘stitch it up’ with magic. The inner layers were the first to be repaired, to stop bleeding and safe the person’s life.    
That for you would 'lead' the stream of your magical energy into your patient's body and give it a 'purpose'. I didn't really get this part, though.  
Most of the times, the rest wasn’t done by magic, because it would take too much energy from you, but with real medicine.  
Like needles to literally stitch wounds up and ointments against infections.

 

When there were no healing potions and no resurrection magic, either… Was it possible to regenerate? My life-steal did definitely work, when I tried it out on this poor girl yesterday.

But how where things with regenerating without stealing life?

 

Apparently there was no such thing in this world. Would Demiurges passive ability even work, then? Or would he really suffer injuries? How about passive shielding and resistances?  
After thanking the old lady for her time, I ‘bought’ a small belt bag with first aid bandages and some medicine, just in case, and left the pharmacy.  
Damn it I really needed some real money soon.  
My conscience gnawed on me with sharp fangs and told me, that I couldn’t just illusion my way through everything…

Once outside again, I stopped and stared into the sky to think.

For a medieval world they were rather advanced. Even the bandages were clean and not too expensive, too. They had magic, but it was kind of uncontrolled and if we got hurt, we would actually have a problem. That made everything more difficult. This world really was no game anymore, and it would be really difficult to get used to this.  
Next I would need a belt to put that bag on. Sadly illusions couldn’t hold real stuff.  
The light in the leather shop was rather dim and the shopkeeper kept staring at me with creepy eyes and had me wondering if maybe I should have made me more ugly?Or did my kimono stand out so much?  
But I really liked its blue-ish branch pattern and the way it felt on my body.  
Damn it.

Still, I had some questions left to ask, so I choose the bag I would want to buy and headed over to the counter, even though I would rather have left.

 

The rest of the day I wandered around in the streets, trying not to step into horse manure, and asked a lot of people about a lot of things, until my head was all blurry and I decided to return to the inn. My exploration duty for today was done.

 

When I stepped into the taproom once again, I noticed the three guys that had stared at me earlier, immediately.  
They were still here and they were still staring at me.  
Or rather, they were again staring at me, like they had waited the whole day for me to return.  
A scary thought…

I tried my best to ignore them, but I couldn’t forget what my Sifu had told me once, years ago:  
“Always be aware of your surroundings. Don’t ignore people that could harm you, just because it would be unpleasant if they did.  
That would give them the ideal opportunity to do so”  
  
That was probably the reason, why it didn’t escape my attention, when they rose from their seats and slowly made their way over to me, cornering me, before I could even reach the counter.  
I turned around to face them.

“Hey sweety. Where is your bodyguard?”

The man to my left grinned with a nasty look on his scarred face.  
Why.  
Why did this always happen to me?  
And I couldn’t even use magic, because if I did, my illusions would disappear, including the one’s of Demiurges and my looks, completely revealing our true appearance.

Damn it.

 

“Can I help you?” I asked cautiously, while taking a step back with my right foot, lowering my center of gravity, without them noticing, to take on a sturdy stand.

“Sure!” The man to my right stepped up to me, with the same ugly grin as his friend had.

“Now, that you are alone, how about some playtime?”

I looked around the tavern, in search for some help, but apparently nobody wanted to interfere.  
The host had disappeared into the kitchen and the only other guests were two young girls, accompanied by a huge man in armour, whose main concern was apparently not my safety.  
Ah shit. Where was Demiurge if I needed him?

 

_/~Demi? I could need your help~/_

No answer. Not even a reaction. There was absolutely nothing. Maybe he was too far away?  
Damn.

“I promise, I’ll be gentle!”, the third man sneered.

“Leave me alone.” I tried to sound secure, but it probably didn’t work the way I wanted it to.

“Oho! She has guts! I like them spicy! Would have been boring, if she would have just played along!”

I felt like throwing up. This was so disgusting! Had it been like that to be a woman in medieval times? Quite possibly.

“Enough smalltalk. Come here you little bitch!”

The man in the center stepped forward and grabbed my shoulder, trying to push me backwards.  
That was the moment when I really thanked my Sifu internally for all those hours, when I had to learn how to have a proper stand, and how to resist, when someone tried to push you over.

   
I lowered the center of my gravity even more, slightly bending my knees, putting more weight on my right foot, that I had placed a little abaft to the other, then I met his strength shortly with mine, sending a surprised look over his face, when his attempt to push me over failed.

I knew I couldn’t hold this long, because in body strength he definitely had the upper hand, but it gave me enough time, to make a move, that we used to call ‘the flap’ back in my martial arts school in Exeter.  
I shifted my weight to the front, while moving my right arm over his, that were still holding on to my shoulders, like a propeller.  
Bringing down my hand with some strength, I removed his grip with the length of my arm, immediately gripping on to his left wrist, spinning it around in a whip-like motion, to bring him down, with his own body weight.

I stepped forward, into his fall, bringing my knee to the position where it would hurt the most and kicked as hard as I could.  
A loud yowl was the response, as the man went to the floor with tears in his eyes.  
Both hands at his probably crushed nuts.

 

One out, two remaining.

The others exchanged a look, before coming at me from both sides. A furious gaze on their faces.  
I didn’t even have the time to return to my starting position, before the man on the right raised his fist to punch me in the face.  
I dodged the blow, ducked below his arm and punched him in his lower ribs, before escaping through the gap I made for myself into the back of the room.

He grunted in pain, then shook it off again and started to follow me.  
The second man had drawn out a long, rusty knife and held it in his right like a spear.

 

 _This would be the perfect timing for Demiurge to show up!_  
But of course he didn’t.  
The two men chased me, trying to catch me, as I ran between the tables, knocking over chairs on my way.  
I ran to the door, but suddenly one of the guys appeared in front of me, cutting off my escape route and grinning at me, while rotating his hand that held the blade.  
The light reflected on the brazen colour of the rust.

They had cornered me again. Closing in on me from both sides.

 

My greatest concern was that damn knife, because I could take a few punches before going down, but if I let myself get hit by that, I had a serious problem.  
Maybe that would be the time to blow my cover and just suck them out of life or something.  
Was I even strong enough to do so?  
Were those men stronger than me in levels, if this world had something like levels?  
No, I didn't think so. They were probably on parr with those bandits in the forest.

But I should at least try to handle this normal, like I would have back in Exeter, before trying something desperate, that could possibly get my demon companion and me killed.

 

I just started to think about a plan to deal with them, when the door opened and two heavy boots made their way into the taproom, followed by a dirty dress and blond messy locks.  
Marta only needed a second to grasp the situation, and just a few steps over to the guy holding the knife, a furious expression on her face.

“You gotta be kidding!”  She angrily shouted, while simply grabbing the blade out of the attackers hand.

“Troubling my guests, now? You better get outta here, before I make ya!”

 

Holy shit I did not expect her to safe my day!  
And neither did I expect what happened next.  
The troublemaker turned on his heels and stared at the waitress in terror, before making a run for it, leaving his companion behind, without even saying a word.  
The last of the rowdies, had stopped staring at me. Instead he kept his gaze locked on the enraged hostess, who waved the rusty dagger, she just took, at him.

“So you wanna get beaten out?”

 

Her heavy boots made loud, resounding noises as they hit the floor underneath her.  
Step by step she made her way over to the shivering guy, until she was only an armlength away.

“Stay away whore!”

The man gnarled, taking a little step back, before he finally followed his buddy’s example and replaced his presence with thin air.

 

I hadn’t moved at all, because I was too busy watching the scene in front of me unfold in confusion.  
Those guys had a lot of respect for the waitress, it seemed.  
And damn that woman was intimidating!

Now she turned to face me, smiling at me in a motherly gesture.

“You alright, love?”

The sudden change in her expression confused me even more, but I managed a crooked smile in her direction, before letting myself fall onto a chair, that I hadn’t yet pushed over.

“Thank you”

“Where is ya companion? He should really know better, than to let such a beauty walk the city all alone!”

My sigh sounded more exhausted, than I had thought and Marta seemed, to notice, since she immediately started wiggling over to the counter.

“You should eat something, love! I’ll have a word with that  man of yours, later! Jens! Get your backside out here and bring something to eat for the lass!”

The last words she shouted loud enough for the host to hear, who was still in the backroom, doing whatever.

 

I couldn’t even contradict, because she was already on the move again, swinging her hips over to the table with the knight and the two girls.

“And you mister! What kinda knight just sits there and watches a girl being molested? Shame on ya!”

The huge guy looked away, shrugging.

“None of my business.”

“None of ya business? Lad you really should get ya principles straight!”

The knight didn’t respond, instead he nipped on his beer, playing with his fingers.

 

Meanwhile the host had come out of the kitchen again, eyeing the room with caution.  
In his hands he held a wooden bowl, which he put onto the counter with a careless movement and left again, probably afraid Marta would shout at him, too.  
I watched him do so and nearly missed the motion of the third of the rowdy’s over it, who I had put down earlier.

He slowly crawled on the floor towards the door, like a beaten stray dog.  
His eyes frightened and wide.

 

Damn that Marta must be really something, if those guys really had that much respect and fear for her.  
And she just had spotted him, starting to walk over to him, when the door opened again.

 

Demiurge took a rash look over the scene in front of him.

Chairs and tables were pushed over, leaving the taproom in a state of chaos, in which Lady Aleen sat on a lone seat near the wall, her arms crossed in front of her chest, with a very tired expression on her beautiful face.

A filthy man crawled on the floor towards the door, towards him, fear and pain in his eyes.

The hostess, that had stopped in her movement, staring at him with something like anger and reproach in her eyes and the knight that kept avoiding his gaze. Together with the two frightened men, that came out of the door right before he had entered, all these impressions painted a picture in front of his eyes. A picture, that he really didn’t like at all.

Something must have happened, while he was gone.  
Something that shouldn’t have happened!

 

His eyes widened and it only took him three steps to reach his lady, completely ignoring the rest of the scenery, (The last rowdy used his chance and sprinted out through the door in haste) falling on his knees in front of her.

“Lady Aleen? Are you alright?!”

When she didn’t answer immediately, he took her small hands in his, stood up again and pulled her with him and into his arms, holding her close to his chest and hid his face in her hair, as he had wanted to since the day they arrived here.

“Forgive me. I shouldn’t have left you alone. A mistake I will not repeat. That I swear.”

He stopped, taking a deep breath, before quietly whispering:” I will accept any punishment you might bestow upon my unworthy self.”

 

She trembled in his embrace. Slowly she wrapped her arms around him, while leaning her head against his chest.

“You’re late…”

The knot in his throat grew bigger with every shaking breath she took in his arms, while clenching onto him, as if she was drowning.

“Forgive me…”

Demiurge repeated hoarse and quietly into her hair.  
She sighed softly and hugged him even tighter, seemingly loosing a bit of the tension that had inhabitated her body until now.  
For this moment the time seemed to stop.

Electrifying shivers run over his back and his arms from every single point where she touched him and he couldn’t resist, but to wrap his invisible tail around her legs and pull her even closer.  
But then guilt creeped in on him and hit him in the stomach with unbelievable strength.  
How could he enjoy this moment?  
He had failed her!  
He should have been here to protect her!

 

Under normal circumstances she could have easily dealt with them herself. But she needed to keep their cover, so the only thing she had to protect herself was her body strength, that, since she was a mage and a female one, too, really wasn’t that great.

“Its fine”, she murmured, gently pushing him away.

“Its not your fault. It was my idea to separate, after all.”

“I still feel at fault”, he answered, his gaze lowered to the floor between them.

“And ya should lad! Leaving ya lass all alone? Don’t be surprised, when she gets lost one day!”

The waitress had approached them, putting down the stew bowl on the table next to them.  
For a split second, he was about to hiss at her, how could she, a mere human, dare to talk to him like that?  
Calling his lady a “lass”?!  
But then he realized, what she had actually said and a nagging fear, that he had tried to lock away deep into the depths of his heart, came crawling up again.

The fear of losing his last supreme being.  
Of losing the woman, that he...  
Of losing Lady Aleen.  
And he even had needed a mere human to tell him his place. But she was right.  
He was completely at fault.  
A cold shiver ran over his back as he stepped closer to Aleen.

He would not allow her to get harmed again!

 

“Thank you, Marta”

I took the bowl into my hands and stared down into it.  
Different vegetables and some meaty parts were swimming in a thick, creamy broth.  
It looked rich and delicious, and remembered me, that my last meal had been breakfast and it already was in the late afternoon.  
My stomach immediately started growling.

“It’s on me, lass. Get some rest. And take more care, will ya?”

I nodded, slowly passing her and walked towards the stairs, but not without sending the unhelpful knight an angry glance.

“Yeah I think I’ll take a nap or something. Thanks again! Really! I owe you!”

I responded, walking up the stairs, leaving it to Marta to clean up the mess I had made out of her tavern.

 

Maybe those rowdies had learned their lesson now and wouldn’t attack any more lone girls?  
Or they would try to kill us, as soon as they see us again.  
It didn’t really matter to me.  
They did not match Demiurges strength in the slightest, that I was sure off, so as long as he stayed with me, I could maintain our illusions and he could keep me safe.

We were at least strong enough to survive, as long as we just had to deal with people like those.

Still I did not feel like some super-powerful being.  
There were presumably a lot of people in this world who were stronger than Demiurge and me, and we should probably try not to get on their bad side.  
At least not yet.

   
“My lady, please don’t hesitate to use magic to defend yourself. Even if it means you need to expose yourself and me. I could never live with the thought that you got hurt because you wanted to keep my cover.”

 

I shook my head while sitting down on the bed.

“Its more than just your cover, Demiurge. We need to find a place here. And I don’t see how we could do that without visiting the town every now and then. I can’t just change our faces or something. That would take too much concentration, that I can’t keep up for long. ”

“Excuse my frankness, but why do we need to stay with those humans? Those are lower creatures and are not worthy of your presence. We could search for other races in this world and visit their cities to establish relations.. I did confirm the existence of, at least, three other humanoid or heteromorphic races.”

 

He did have a point. But in the old world I had been human myself and somehow I didn’t want to give up on that so easily.  
Did I still identify myself as human?  
I shook my head, not ready to face this thought.

“Let’s talk about what we learned today first.”

I reported everything I found out about the health and magic systems, along with diverse stuff the merchants had told me, about monsters, dragons and other creatures, they had met on their travels.

 

When I finished, Demiurge nodded slowly.  
“Yes I had thought so. I had no access to my HP or my MP anymore and some of my abilities were altered, so I figured the system must have changed. Apparently there is no classification into NPCs and players either.”

Since this was no game anymore, this didn’t surprise me in the slightest, but the devil had only known Yggdrasil until now, so this was new to him.

“Ok. So this is, what I got. How about you?”

Once again I thought I could see his tail tip whip the air behind him, the same tail, that had pulled me closer into his embrace down in the taproom…, but of course I saw nothing. And didn't I want to keep a little distance?

The demon folded his hands in his lap and explained in short, precise sentences:

“There is no such thing as a guild. This City is part of a kingdom, led by a human king. His reign is absolute and he seems to be quite the… outstanding person.”  
Demiurges way of saying this somehow gave me the hint, that this king didn’t treat his people all that well…

“Concerning the job classes: This is not like it had been in YGGDRASIL. You seemingly can’t choose. As a matter of fact, I have earned quite the puzzled looks, when asking. Most people just do, what their parents had done before, or what promises to bring them the best income.  
They learn from their seniors. This process can take years.  
There are no heroes or adventurers among the common folk, if they exist, they are part of the kings army, in form of generals.  
However there seem to be armed mercenaries, they mostly fight alongside the country’s army, too, but some of them travel and do minor killing jobs for different people in the towns, or act as bodyguards for travelling merchants.”  
  
This wasn’t all that different from medieval europe, then, right?  
Well set aside all the creatures, that definitely did not exist in medieval europe and the magic of course.  
But I could work with that.  
In fact: I was actually happy about this outcome.  
But Demiurge didn’t seem like he was finished.

 

He hesitated, readjusting his glasses, like he always did.

“Also, and more importantly, I have heard of a… Vampire that killed off a whole village in the north. She is described by the sole survivor as a beautiful girl with silvery hair in a red, black and violet expensive looking dress”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry, that I can only upload one chapter per week,  
> but I don't seem to get as much free time, as I would like.
> 
> In fact, real life has me hard in its grip and I can't see that changing anytime soon.  
> So the upload intervalls will stay at one week for now.  
> Sorry!  
> Thanks for your patience!  
> love ya!


	5. Fatalities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And here we go again

### Chapter 5: Fatalities

 

 

I felt my jaw drop and my heart skip half a beat, when I realized, what he had just said. ****  
“What?!” I jumped up from my seat on the bed and stared at Demiurge in confusion and shock. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?! When Shalltear is here we need to find her immediately!”  
  
How was that even possible? Could it be? Could it really be Shalltear? Would she be loyal? Would she try to kill me? Us?   
When Shalltear was here… Were there others? Albedo? Cocytus? the Twins? And what about other players?   
That changed everything! If there were other players from Yggdrasil, I needed to find them!   
…. Well at first I would need to find my guardians and stop them from erasing mankind from this world…   
She had killed off a whole village? Considering, that Demiurge had done the exact same thing, that should be no surprise, but if that was true, then our killcount here was already high enough for us to be a threat to this kingdom, if they ever found out how these deaths were connected…   
So much for “Flying below the radar”   


And concerning the players...  
What about Momonga? He was online, at the very end, wasn’t he?   
And that other guy, that always kind of creeped me out…   
  
“It is important to not do anything rash. We don’t know if this vampire really is Shalltear. If not, then it is quite possible, that we will be in danger when encountering her. Even if it is her, we have no guarantee, that she is still on our side. She could be an enemy.”   
Demiurge took a deep breath.   
“I don’t want to put you in danger, Aleen. I could not stand it. Not again.”   
  
I slowly sat down on the floor in front of him.   
“So… what should we do?”   
He looked up at me, probably surprised, that I didn’t go to find her immediately, but I had decided to try and act a little more grown up after yesterday evening.   
I was an adult, after all.   
And he did have a point, too. We had no idea what could or would happen.

  
First we would need some kind of plan, therefore we should go through everything we know about this world, about Demiurges and my abilities, and about Shalltear.

In Nazarick Shalltear had been an unbelievably strong NPC. The first line of defence of the great tomb against any intruder. But she was not very intelligent and it was quite possible to use her surroundings against her.

 

So we should probably scout the area first?  
Demiurge interrupted my thoughts by clearing his throat.  
“Lady Aleen if I may.”

Oh yeah he was most certainly better in planning stuff like this than I was. I should clear the field for his intellect.  
So I simply nodded, gesticulating him to go on.

“I already took the liberty of sending some of my lower demons, to gather information in said village. You don't need to worry about scouting.”  
Did he read my mind? How did he do that?  
Wait… lower demons? Where did those even come from?

“Thankfully my abilities do still work here. More or less. They did, indeed change but only to some degree. But it is quite exhausting to use my summon skills. Even the smaller ones, so I was only able to call five of my subordinates. Apparently they do have names and characters, here, but that should be of no concern to you, my lady.”

  
He did it again.   
He totally read my mind. He read my mind, and then he answered to me as if I had openly asked him!   
I should say something. Just sitting here and staring at him wouldn’t do us any good.   
“Uhm… yeah… ok thank you Demiurge… That was very farsighted.”

The hint of a grin appeared on the devils face, making me feel kind of embarrassed.  
Summon skills.. right. I totally forgot, that he had those.   
That made things less complicated and less dangerous for us.  
Now we could concentrate on the possible outcomes of their scouting and our actions afterwards.

 

If it was Shalltear we needed to be hell careful. She was far stronger in 1v1 combat than me or Demiurge.  
If we played our cards well, we could be able to defeat her together, but probably not without getting seriously injured.   
So we needed a plan to confirm If her intent was hostile or loyal. How should we do that without approaching?  
Could Demiurges demons just hand her a letter or something?  
But If we told her where we were she would have the perfect chance to attack us.  
If we told her, we would be coming for her in said letter, she would be prepared.  
Just sending a letter saying “Hey Shalltear, Demiurge and I are here, too! But we won't tell you where!” Wouldn't make much sense.

Meaning that If she really was hostile, our best chances of winning were, not to send a letter, but to go there ourselves. And If she was not an enemy, then we had nothing to worry about.

It was a complicated situation.

But I had a very good strategist with me, whose abilities were specialized in solving complicated situations, after all.  
“We do have kind of a situation here. What would you say? What are the chances of Shalltear still being loyal?”  
The demon nodded, as If he had expected me to ask this very question.

“Considering me, there should be no way, she came into this world without loyalty to our supreme beings. Still it would be possible, that since the time we arrived, something or someone could have taken control over her or twisted her mind to a state in which she wouldn't recognize you. Judging from the humans I have met so far, this could be a possibility. Many of them are much stronger than the average NPC human in YGGDRASIL had been. We should be careful.”

 

Probably more careful than just stepping into a camp of bandits as I had done yesterday.  While that did work out in the end, it also could have been a huge miscalculation, costing our lives.   
Especially, because there was actually no way to measure the opponents power level, at all.   
My animalistic instincts kind of told me, that they weren’t much of a threat, but I hadn’t even known, that I could trust this intuition. So the impulsive decision, to take them on could have backfired. Hard.

 

Damn my capricious, vixen self.

 

While I was still thinking about what Demiurge had said, I suddenly noticed, that his shadow on the floor had started to move, shifting its form to left and right and then starting to swirl into itself, creating some kind of vortex out of which now crawled a small creature.

It climbed out of the darkness behind its master, and then, when seeing me, stood as tall as an imp, measuring around one and a half feet in height could stand, lifting one tiny, clawed hand to where its heart was supposed to be.

 

“My Lady Aleen!”, It shrieked, while suddenly falling onto its knees.  
“Forgive me for coming in uninvited!”

Demiurges eyes beamed in disapproval.  
“Flock! I told you message me first!”  
I had tried to contact him earlier, too and that didn't work. So maybe my companions subordinate, which the imp seemed to be, had the same problem to deal with?

 

“I'm sorry, boss! It didn't work! I tried!”

The lesser demon grew smaller and smaller under the archdevils cold stare and nearly seemed to disappear into the floor.  
Demiurge frowned, then looked at me.  
I nodded.

“Yeah, thinking of which: I tried to contact you earlier, too. It probably only works, when not too far apart. So he’s not at fault”

 

The imp had some news to share, concerning Shalltear.  
He had confirmed her identity. It really was the true vampire, Nazaricks catacomb guardian. And she really did erase a complete village. Afterwards she had taken one of the now empty houses for herself and kind of lived there. But apparently all that she did was drinking cheap liquor.

That did not sound like mind control to me, but we still couldn't be sure.

 

The plan was simple but still a bit risky.  
Demiurge would go in alone, and I would be the surprise backup, If she would turn out to be malign. (to us, that is)

That way he could keep me out of imminent danger, but I still wouldn't let him get killed. (His first proposal was that I should stay back here in the City until he came back…)  
Now we only had to execute this plan.   


 

  
Demiurge had planned everything through.  
From the exact position of his minions and me to the damn weather he had everything pinned down. He had even stayed awake the nights, wandering around the room, deep in thought, in order not to miss anything.

But sadly even with the greatest intellect, it was not possible to consider every uncertainty. And so the inevitable happened and all the plans we had made were never carried out.

 

When Demiurges feet touched the ground the first thing I noticed was, that no birds were singing. It was too quiet.  
He put me on my own feet again, slowly, as if he would rather have kept me safe in his arms, and looked around the area, folding his wings back into his back.   
We were in some distance to Shalltears village, probably one mile away to be more precise, and planned to approach her, here on ground level, without letting her notice us.   
  
It was two days after the “fight” in the taproom. Day five in this strange new world. And I still hadn’t had a bath…   
We had decided it would be the best not to wait too long, in order not to give the valkyrie any time to do something even more stupid, or a chance to move away from her current location.   
But we also wanted to be as prepared as possible.   
After we were sure that noone was around, I dissolved our body illusions and the stealth spell I had put on us, while we had been in the air and turned around to my guardian-companion.   
He returned my worried, cautious gaze with a small reassuring smile and the light reflecting in the diamonds that were his eyes, really helped me calm down a bit.   
  
_This will go smoothly, won’t it?_ I thought in an attempt to lighten my own mood.   
_And then we will have Shalltear, right?_   
  
Slowly and silently we approached the village. My bare feet on the cool ground that bounced softly beneath my soles, didn’t make any sound at all and my passive abilities ‘aspect of the wild’ and ‘aspect of the shadow’ granted me stealth along with heightened perception and movement speed, that felt quite natural here and not like casting an ability. They were just facets of my charakter, of me, now.   
It was good to be back in the forest. No matter how much the human side in me longed for human company, the fox that was my other half, just wanted to stay in the wilderness, only with those who she really trusted.   
  
Through the pillar-like tree trunks already shimmered the red roof-tiles of the village. From back here it still looked like an ordinary village. Some small houses with some farmland around. The still green barley ears would glow golden in the low october sun later this year, promising a good harvest, that would feed all the villagers through the winter, that much I was sure of.   
Well technically, it wouldn’t, since there were no villagers left, but it could have.   


We reached a small natural rock formation and came to a quick halt.  
This was, where we were supposed to split up.   
My demonic companion and I exchanged a brief glance.   
  
_/~According to the plan, one of my subordinates will wait for you a little to the south.~/_   
Demiurge hesitated, giving me a worried look, before continuing:   
_/~Please be careful, my lady.~/_   
  
He hated leaving me alone again, especially because last time he did, I got myself into trouble. But this time I was more worried about him, so I nodded and sent him a sincere smile.   
  
_/~You, too~/_   
  
Then I followed the sun that was high up in the sky a little to the south as he had said.

My stealth ability would conceal my presence.  
Demiurge continued his way straight forward, into the village.   
My path led me around the village to a place, where I could keep an eye on the entrance of the house in which Shalltear resided in, so I would be able to interfere immediately, when needed.   
But when I reached the place, there was none of Demiurges imps to be seen. But there was a rather peculiar smell, coming from deeper within the forest.   
  
_/~wait!~/_   
  
The archdevil stopped his movement and sent me a worried, questioning expression over the message call.   
  
_/~There is none of your demons here. Stay where you are, I’m gonna have a look around.~/_   
  
There was a small pause, then he replied:   
  
_/~Please wait, Lady Aleen. I will be there in a second.~/_   


_/~ No need. I’ll call for you if something happens. Stay where you are or you might give away my position~/_   
  
I was right, and he knew it.   
The only reason, why we landed so far away from the village was, because Shalltear would probably have a detection ability activated, that would show her engaging parties and attacks from above.   
My stealth only worked, as long as I was moving slowly. As soon as I started running, I would be visible to any detection magic and any curious eyes.   
Demiurge on the other hand, was visible all the time. That was why we splitted up, when we were near the village.   
If he would return to me now, that a crisis had appeared, it would be obvious, where he was going.   
  
_/~Shall I try to message Shalltear, then?~/_   
  
He asked, quietly, deeply worried. We should be close enough, now, but I wanted to have my whole consciousness on this message call, so it had to wait until I cleared matters up here.   
  
/~No. Wait with that, until I’m finished scouting.~/

  
_Now where did that imp go?_   
I followed my nose slowly along a small path, that was probably used by bigger game, like deers or maybe wild boars. I couldn’t really tell because there was this one smell, that layered over everything else.   
Some biting scent that lead me to think about apothecaries or alchemistic experiments?   
  
Just in case, I fortified my magic defense, by building up an illusion around me, that should enhance my stealth.   
  
Then, carefully, I kept moving along this path, until I reached a clearing.   
And with it the metallic scent of blood, that had been hidden under the other, penetrating smell until now.   
The imp was dead.   
Its body lay in the middle of the free space, its empty eyes staring into the clear blue sky without seeing anything, next to a huge man, with a height of around 6’3. The man's hair was short and dark brown, his eyes seemed to have a very light shade of green and around his lips played an evil grin, that seemed to feast on my very soul. In his right hand he held a magician’s staff that was carved out of dark palisander wood, the left just rested on his waist, in some sort of provocation pose.   
It was a shocking sight, but not as shocking as some other things I had seen in the last 5 days.   
Still, the picture before my eyes made me angry, and I needed all my calm to stay here back at the edge of the clearing, instead of engaging in a fight. Damn these capricious animalistic impulses.   
This guy looked, like he was awfully strong and I should probably call for backup, hence Demiurge, first.   
I was about to do that very call, when I suddenly realized something.

The man stared at me.

That should be impossible, but he did!

He looked right through my illusion and saw me standing there!

“I can see you, fox. Some petty picture spells can’t hide you from my well trained eyes!”  
Damn!

“Haha I came to slay a vampire. You are no vampire, but this will be an extra for me!”

 

_/~Demiu--!~/_

 

I somehow froze solid.

And then everything seemed to happen at once. While the man in front of me lifted his wand with this evil grin on his face, I thought I heard something or rather someone shriek my name from far away. It was a female voice and it seemed to be deep in shock and horror. But just when I wanted to react, maybe answer, the frantic noise seemed to quiet down as time appeared to stop. Everything came to a sudden halt.

In front of the ornamented brown staff in the mage's hand was something like a seed of green light and it grew fast, swallowing all noise around us, until I felt like I was standing inside of a silent bubble.

Caged, unable to move. I was not afraid, nor shocked at all. Instead I felt rather numb. Even my anger from before was gone.

 

The grin in the man's face grew even wider, taking me in and hypnotizing me, like nothing I had ever seen before.  
It was luring me in, captured my thoughts and all of my senses and in a sudden realization I thought, that this was quite similar to how my charm ability ‘ruby night’ would work.  
But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something like a red whirl from my left approaching me with unbelievable speed. It sped through the walls of my invisible prison, and suddenly the sound reappeared, when it called my name.

“Aleen!”, It, - No he, shouted, grabbing my wrist and pulling me to his chest, while rapidly turning around, shielding me with his broad back. A soft smokey and resinous fragrance wrapped around me and filled my sensitive nose.

 

I could see the light green ray of energy close in on the both of us and didn't even have the time to react, before It hit the archdevil with unmeasurable force.  
He gasped in pain and took a little step forward, his claws digging into my arms and through the fabric of my robe.

 

“Demiurge! Don’t!”   
Of course it was already too late for that.  
My voice was pitched a whole octave too high and my eyes were probably wide open in fear.

I trembled from head down to my knees when my emotions returned all at once.    
The fear was not for myself, but for my companion, who had just put himself into harm's way to protect me.

The anxiety of losing him clinged heavy on to my chest and just wouldn't let go, making it hard to breathe.

 

“Forgive...me…” he panted, trying to sound calm and failing gravely. “You may ...kill me later…for disobeying...”   
The energy beam still hadn't stopped and I could see the pain in Demiurges glistening crystalline eyes as I turned to face him.  
Nonetheless he forced himself to a teeth-baring grin, as he said those last words.

 

I shook my head and tried to regain my calm.  
Could he withstand this force long enough for the attack to fade out?  
He wouldn't die, would he?

He wouldn't, right?!

 

_Calm down Aleen! You need to think!_

 

Okay, as soon as the green beam disappeared, I needed to attack.  
I probably only had a few seconds at most, before the caster would recover and send the next attack.  
I could not rely on Demiurge to take even more damage for me!  
Ha had taken too much, already.   
How did He even still withstand this?!

On my head I went through every last one of my abilities, trying to figure out which one to use, when I finally noticed that the energy behind our opponents spell grew less powerful.

 

Demiurge had closed his eyes, breathing heavily and when the ray finally died down, he went to his knees immediately, like a wet bag of sand and slowly tilted towards the floor. He had lost consciousness, but I still heard his strained breathing. Thank god!  
  
His shirt was ripped and partly molten, exposing his back that was open and burned, like styrofoam that was deformed by the flame of a lighter-held-too-close.  
If that thing would have hit me, I would most certainly be ashes, now.  
This was No fire, against which we had resistances. It was raw magical energy.

Right before my companions upper body hit the ground, I started my counterattack, without hesitation.

 

‘Storm wrath’, an elemental ability, darkened the sky above us with the sudden appearance of thick black clouds.  
I didn't even have to cast it. It  happened all by itself.  
Dazzling lightning pierced through the blackness above and twitched angrily towards the ground between the mage and me. It started to rain, too.  
I was furious.   
All the shock and fear had transformed to burning anger and hate within me.  
How could he dare to lay a hand on the man that…

On my companion?

My body started to glow in a spooky blueish tone and little blue and white wisps of ghostfire started to dance around me. My tail was flaming, blue fire, that even the raindrops couldn't extinguish.  
Hell I was mad!

 

“You can't be serious!”, The guy shouted in a mixture of anger and surprise and lifted his wand again.  
I rushed forward, but not exactly towards him, instead I darted to a point slightly to his left.  
In order to lure him away from the archdevil, I had to get his attention. All of it.

 

My hands started to glow, when I send a rain of flames against him. It didn't cost me too much energy to cast, so I could use it to draw his attention to me. It didn't have much effect, but it did distract him.  
The caster spit out a little curse and sent a small green energy ray my way.  
I dodged it and then jumped high into the air.   
'song of the wilderness’ started to build up its amethyst haze around the man, and he got caught up in it for a second.  
I needed to finish this quick!

Still in the air, I invoced a spear of blue foxfire and threw it towards my opponent.  
But right in time, he freed himself out of my illusion prison and jumped back, barely evading the burning spear tip.  
“Ts”, I hissed, while landing with my feet on the wet ground again.

Three more rays of energy flew my way, but I managed to dodge them all.

“You are good, foxgirl!” The mage shouted over to me. “But you can't win! I finished off your friend and now it's your time!”

_Is it now?_  
I thought.  
 _Are you Sure you got that right?_

 

A thick, poisonous looking fog of green started to rise from the ground beneath my feet, threatening to envelop me.  
Damn. Maybe my thoughts had been a little rash…, but I couldn't lose.   
He would kill Demiurge.  
I couldn't let this Happen!

 

Suddenly the mist disappeared, the guy seemed to be somehow... distracted? His head was turned away from me as If he saw something.  
Maybe it was a trap?  
But it didn't matter to me. Either way I didn't have much of a choice.  
I leaped into the air again, once more invocing my 'foxfire spear’. But this time I didn't throw it.

Instead I used the heightened speed the lightning energy around me provided and engaged in close combat.  
“Ah!” He managed to block my spear with his wand in the last possible second and stared into my face with shock.  
For a second we just stared at each other.

 

Just a moment ago he had considered himself victorious, but now, all this sincerity was gone.  
I tilted my head a little as If I wanted to ask “what's wrong?”  
Then I dissolved my spear.  
When the resistance against his wand suddenly disappeared he lost his balance, slipped on the wet floor and stumbled into my arms, just as I had hoped.

 

But he regained his composure immediately, nearly sending a fist into my stomach.   
With a low growl I jumped back and had to evade some more energy rays. But somehow his defence was way more open, now.  
And there, right in front of my nose, was a huge gap.

Without even bothering to cast another spell, I engaged again, drawing a new spear out of thin air and shoving it directly into said opening.  
And it hit!

 

The man coughed up blood and his wand fell to the floor, useless without its master.

 

All that had happened in mere minutes.  
But now the guy slowly sank to his knees, his eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the blue fire spear coming out of his chest.

“H...how…” His voice was more of a gargling than an actual voice. Blood trailed down over his chin and dripped down into puddles of rain water, colouring them in a crimson reddish shade.

My breath slowly calmed down again, when the heat of the fight left my body.  
The burbling sound, his pierced lungs made, when he tried to breathe and the steady, rhythmic falling of the raindrops around us, built a somehow harmonic background noise.  
I just killed a man.

He was dying right before my eyes, but I didn't feel guilty at all.  
Shouldn't I feel at least a little compassion?

 

The spear in his chest, that had been keeping him in a sitting position, dissolved and the man fell face forward into the puddles of rainwater and his blood around him.

 

No I didn't feel anything, but disgust and hatred.   
The flamen aura around my body disappeared and now I felt how cold the rain really was, that drenched my fur and my torn robes and pulled me down with its weight.  
I suddenly felt really tired.

 

But I had to get back to Demiurge.  
I turned back and made my way over to him with shaking legs.  
The rain had drenches his clothes and hair and cooled the wound on his back.  
To my immense relief he was still breathing and I had to swallow my tears.

_Stay calm. Just a little longer!_  
Could I heal him? At least a little?  
I didn't know any healing spells and I was so tired…  
But I had to at least try!

I placed my hands gingerly over his burned flesh and tried to focus.   
Was it enough to lead some energy into him?  
I had never done this before. There was No such spell in YGGDRASIL, but I felt the energy of the storm still rage within me and I knew it was possible to redirect it.  
But I had to do it carefully.   
I gently lead the stream into him, and gave it the intention to _rebuild.  
_To restructure his cells, to regenerate him.

I didn't even know If it worked, but I stubbornly kept doing it, until I finally saw results.   
The worst parts started to heal. Slowly and ever so slightly, but they did.'  
I continued, until I saw stars and wasn’t able to think straight anymore.

Was this enough for now?

_Can I..._

 

“My Lady Aleen! Are you alright…?”

The unsecure, worried voice of a young girl reached my ears and let me turn around slowly. She was coming towards me hesitantly. The crimson eyes in her small, pale face filled with worry and restraint, her hands folded over her violet , red and black dress.  
It was Shalltear, no doubt about it.

“You _are_ Lady Aleen, aren't you? That is Demiurge, right?”

She sounded like a child that didn't dare to dream, but still had hope.  
It made me smile a little.

“Shalltear”, I said with a voice, that mirrored my fatigue, “we've been... looking for you...”  
My vision had gone blurry and little stars were dancing in the corners of my eyes.

It was too much. I hope it was enough.  
I thought, before my body finally betrayed my will and I tilted over, falling heavy to the ground next to the demon.  
The last thing I felt, before my consciousness faded into blackness was Demiurges hand, that weakly wrapped itself around mine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys! What do you think about the fight scene?
> 
> Please remember, that the world is NOT the same as in the Overlord series and light novels.  
> I know, I said that before, but I don't want any more misunderstandings.
> 
> As always: I would be eternally greatful for comments and reviews and stuff.
> 
> love you all!


	6. Siu Nim Tau

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some very cheesy martial arts training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Very cheesy.  
> In my defense: I am feeling kind of lonely, so I had to write some seriousely sentimental stuff.  
> Sorry in advance.

###  Chapter 6: Siu Nim Tau 

  
  
  
A dark alleyway and pouring rain. The halo of the street lamps lighting up the falling water in its brightness.  
Puddles beneath my feet. Puddles of rain and…  
Wetness in my face and in my hair. Was it raindrops? Or maybe tears?  
I couldn't tell.  
Soft crimson colours swirling.  
The sight of them out of the corner of my eyes and the urge to just turn and run. Not to look down. Not to look at the floor… Not to look at the puddles…

 

Everytime I saw this environment, this setting, my heart stopped in fright.  
And I often saw it.  
It was a recurring motive in my dreams and it was all I could think about, when I was at my martial arts school, letting out my frustration on some helpless training dummy.  
“You have to watch your center! You always tilt to the front! See?”

After saying this, my Sifu used to pull on my arm. Just a little, to show me, that my stand was too aggressive.   
“Its all about the balance. Lower your center. Keep your shoulders back.”  
I needed to be calm. He told me over and over again. He even got mad and let me do round after round of pushups.

But everytime I closed my eyes to calm down back then, all I saw was this gloomy alley and the rain.  
And it nearly drove me mad.

I had only been a young girl of sixteen back then.

 

It took years until I was able to stay calm when fighting. To keep my breath steady and my stand solid.  
But as time passed, I got less aggressive and more… tired.  
The alleyway remained the same and its picture stayed, but the feelings changed. Hot wrath turned into tired resignation and grief.  
And after I finished school and started to work as an editor in a big publishing company, I felt my life more and more… _lacking._  
Something that should be there, just wasn't. I felt empty and lonely, even though I had friends and even still family left.  
And I started locking them all out.

Burying myself into my self pity and video games, I totally lost sense for reality.  
In the end, I ended up being one of those introed people, that turn down invitations for dinner to rather play games and eat instant ramen.  
The only time I did still leave my apartment other than for work and grocery shopping, was when I went to my martial arts school, where I still tried to get this picture out of my head.

But the rain kept falling onto grey, wet and red asphalt in a dark alley.

 

Maybe that was, why me stranding in a strange unknown fantasy world with a video game character, wasn't the worst that could have happened to me?  
Maybe that was, why I was rather glad about this turn of events?  
Maybe.  
Probably.

 

The ground beneath my feet still felt a little shaky, when I bent my knees to do the “siu nim tau”. A kung fu form to train certain movements.  
Doing this again, here in this world, in front of a hidden cave in the woods, felt somewhat calming. I had done this every day in my old life in front of the huge mirror on my wardrobe, so I could see what I was doing and which of the parts were still imperfect.

And now, one week after the fight that injured Demiurge badly and had me actually kill a man, I thought it would be a good idea to get back into this routine.  
Regain my calm, control the vixen feelings that sought to take me over and avoid bringing danger to the people that I love.  
Get back into control, because I desperately needed it. I needed control over me and my life. Otherwise I would fall again, into this deep, cold darkness. I would overthink things of my past and I would blame me eternally for all that I had and hadn’t done.

That was why I was doing this exercise now.

 

My hands followed the forms I've been training for nearly all my life without problems, even though I still felt a little weird and my tail was kind of distracting because it slightly changed the way my body held its balance.  
After the siu nim tau, I followed through the “Cham Kiu”, that focused a little more on leg movement and finally the first few parts of the form “Biu Djie”.

I repeated all of that 3 times, then I tried to do some basic exercises, but without a partner to train with, that didn't really work all that well, so I focused mainly on setting my feet right, bending the knees where I had to and using the right angles in my joints.  
Just when I decided that it didn’t make much sense to keep doing this alone, I noticed a subtle movement to my left.  
  
Demiurge had watched my every motion with careful eyes, that much I was sure of, but it hadn’t occurred to him, to make himself felt.   
But now that I had detected his presence, he implied a small bow and smiled over to me.  
  
“Most impressive, my lady Aleen. I was not aware of your possession of martial arts skills. May I ask, where those come from as they distinctly differ from the ones I know from Yggdrasil?”  
  
I ended my form training with a small bow towards the sky, not because there was anything but because it was a well known ritual to me,   
and turned to face my demon companion, that still looked a little pale in comparison to his usual tanned self.  
  
“I wouldn’t call that martial art skills. I started doing this many years ago in…the… my old world.”  
  
He stepped closer, his new white shirt that Shalltear had organized, firmly stretching over his chest, as he tried to mimic my fighting position from before. His gaze expectantly locked onto my face.   
  
With a grin I slowly walked over to him.  
He seemed much better than some days before, his wounds were healing quite quickly, even without me infusing more of my magic and even though he wasn’t back to his old self yet, at least his movements seemed less painful and more relaxed.  
The arch devils metal plated tail lazily brushed the floor behind him, as he watched me coming closer.  
  
“You should take those off”  
I said, still grinning and pointed at the spectacles on his nose.   
As he did, what I had advised him to, I slightly bent my knees and lowered my weight as I had done before, while raising my hands up to chest height.  
“You ready?”  
He noddingly mirrored my stand and carefully watched, as I lifted my left foot and quickly moved closer to engage him.  
“You are quite forward, my lady”, he grinned, turning on his heel to keep facing me and blocked the motion of my elbow towards his chest with his own, just like he had seen me do the movement some minutes ago.  
  
He was a quick learner it seemed, but his balance was off.  
And I wouldn’t be me, if I didn’t use that against him, so I softly leaned forward, into him and made another small step into the gap between his feet to push him over. Needless to say, that worked perfectly.  
  
With a surprised look he stumbled back from me, fighting to regain his balance and softly released breath between his teeth with a small whistling sound.   
“I see. May I try again?”  
  
His stand was way better now. Still a bit off and unstable, but better.  
I showed him how to shift his weight and how to block different standardized attacks, then I made him repeat the movements with me with closed eyes.  
We changed exercises a few times, until I decided to train reactions.  
  
“One has to feel where the attack is coming from, rather than seeing it”  
I explained, while softly laying my hands on the outer sides of his arms, so I could follow his movements.  
“Understood”  
Then I closed my eyes, concentrating only on the feeling of his skin on mine.  
He wasn’t wearing his gloves, I hadn’t realized before.  
And now, that everything I could sense was the warmth of his hands, I started thinking, that I shouldn’t have chosen this particular exercise.  
His right started moving towards my belly and I reacted as I was taught for years.  
I locked his hand with mine and turned my hips, pulling him into me, before I even realized what I was doing.  
Yes sure, I disbalanced him with doing so, but I also brought him dangerously close to me.  
Closer than I should, if my pounding heart was any indicator.  
  
I even felt his breath warm and soft on my left cheek, like the kiss of a wind nymph.  
Well or at least that was, what my imagination and overly poetic nerd side made out of this feeling.  
In order not to make things awkward, I opened my eyes again and took a step back, releasing his arm.  
  
“Okay you know what? Let’s do something else”  
  
For the final exercise I decided we should do the same thing as in the beginning and see how Demiurge had improved.  
Now with his better stance, it wouldn’t be so easy for me to dominate the "battle".  
He really was a quick learner and I was quite out of practice.  
  
This time I wouldn’t push him over.  
When he blocked my elbow this time, I instead shoved my hand over his arm and just gently pushed his defence down without even using any force, while charging with my right fist into the gap.  
His left hand rushed up to block the blow, so I quickly changed hands, now locking his right with my right at the height of his belly and grabbed his left wrist with my left, pulling his arm towards the floor in an attempt to make him stumble again.  
But with a soft growl he freed his arm out of my grip, before I could pull him off his feet, and used a body part, I hadn’t thought about at all to get the game back on.  
Demiurges tail wrapped itself around my ankle and pulled my leg towards him. It totally threw me off balance, giving him the chance to rush into me, what he immediately did.  
A small yelp escaped my throat, when he -still carefully- pushed into me with his shoulder and I would have landed with my bottom on my own tail, if it wasn’t for his arms that suddenly caught me, and his iron plated tail, that supported the small of my back, to get me back on my feet again.  
  
“Oh damn!” I grinned, while still holding on to his shoulders, like I could fall down again any second, trying to calm my breath.  
  
“That was actually unfair! I didn’t expect the tail!”  
“I figured. That is why I decided to use it.”  
  
His shoulders underneath my fingertips moved slightly as he chuckled and I felt his breath softly caressing my neck once again.  
  
Oh he was close.  
So very close.  
  
His alluring scent seemed to opiate me and caught me up into its promising spiderweb and instead of stepping back, as I knew I should, I leaned closer and slightly rested my forehead on his chest.  
I felt his breath shortly falter and his heartbeat speed up, but also his back and shoulders getting more tense.  
He took a deep breath and slowly, ever so slowly, the tension from his muscles disappeared again, like he had made up his mind.  
One of his hands rested gingerly against the small of my back, while the other softly buried itself into my hair and pushed me deeper into his chest.  
  
“Aleen..”, he murmured quietly and sighed before continuing: “If I may ask for something…”  
“Of course!”  
  
It wasn’t usual for him to ask for something. He was quite the loyal soldier, never wanting anything, but my happiness. I knew he was that way, but I also knew, that there was more to him and to his feelings. That despite his being a former NPC, he very much was a person, too.  
 A real person.   
To me even realer, than most of the people in the old world.   
  
 I didn’t move away, but slightly turned my head to look up at his face.  
His eyes were closed, another heavy breath on his trembling lips. His brows furrowed like he was in pain.  
“Don’t ever leave.”  
  
Now I disengaged from his chest and leaned back, so I was able to look at him directly.  
At his still closed eyes and slowly lowered head and furrowed brows.  
My hand found its way to his cheek and when he opened his eyes to look at me again, I smiled gently.  
“I promise.”  
  
His eyes lit up like candles on a christmas tree and he returned my smile with a gaze so honest and sincere, that it literally made me forget everything else.  
It made me forget what had happened a mere week ago, it made me forget we were standing in the woods between shrubbery and reed, that we were not safe in this world, that we were stranded, that we had killed people and had nearly been killed ourselves and even that dark alley in the rain got a little paler.. for just a few moments.   
  
He seemed so happy and it made my so unbelievably glad to see him smile.  
His shining eyes, sending sparkles over his and my face, his wide smile, not his usual devilish grin, but a real smile, and the warmth of his arms around me were the only things that mattered.  
And as I looked at him I couldn’t shake the urge to lean forward and just try out how his lips would feel against mine.  
  
And suddenly I knew he had the same in mind, because I could hear his pounding heart and I could feel his shaky breaths, the way his fingers softly brushed against my back and I could even smell a change in the pheromones around him.   
Intoxicating my mind.  
Luring me in, tearing on my very substance  
  
His grip slightly tightened around me and he pulled me a little closer to lean our foreheads against each other.   
I breathed in his wooden fragrance, his aromatic scent that filled my nostrils with the sweet and yet tart temptation, that was him.  
I wanted to kiss him so badly right now.  
So badly, that I was ready to throw every fear and every little peace of distance over board, that I had build up in all of my life, to dive right into ice cold waters and experience this promising new sensation.  
The tip of his nose softly brushed against mine and I felt myself stretching little to meat his lips, when suddenly someone behind me cleared their throat.  
  
Shalltear had appeared on the edge of the clearing.  
  
“My Lady…. Not that I would want to interrupt your little… game, but we have visitors.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO sorry for the long wait!  
> I have lots of excuses and such, but you woulnd't want to hear any of those, so just don't hate me too much, okay?  
> (Car broke down, my baby wants attention and this scene was unusually hard to write)
> 
> Hope you liked it. Or at least didn't hate it.  
> Love you guys!


End file.
